Acute Stress Improves Concentration Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-98
Author(s):  
Cathy Degroote ◽  
Adrian Schwaninger ◽  
Nadja Heimgartner ◽  
Patrik Hedinger ◽  
Ulrike Ehlert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
State Anxiety ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Alpha Amylase ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Stress Appraisal ◽  
Cognitive Stress ◽  
Stress Changes ◽  
Acute Psychosocial Stress

Abstract. Acute stress can have both detrimental and beneficial effects on cognitive processing, but effects on concentration performance remain unclear. Here, we investigate the effects of acute psychosocial stress on concentration performance and possible underlying physiological and psychological mechanisms. The study sample comprised 47 healthy male participants who were randomly assigned either to a psychosocial stress situation (Trier Social Stress Test) or a neutral control task. Concentration performance was assessed using the d2 Test of Attention before and 30 min after the stress or control task. Salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase were repeatedly measured before and up to 1 hr after stress. We repeatedly assessed state anxiety using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and anticipatory cognitive stress appraisal using the Primary Appraisal Secondary Appraisal questionnaire. The stress group showed a significantly stronger improvement of concentration performance compared to the control group ( p = .042). Concentration performance improvement was predicted by increased state anxiety ( p = .020) and lower cortisol (stress) changes ( p = .043). Neither changes in alpha-amylase nor cognitive stress appraisal did relate to concentration performance. Our results show improved concentration performance after acute psychosocial stress induction that was predicted by higher state anxiety increases and lower cortisol increases. This points to a potential modulating role of specific psycho-emotional and physiological factors with opposite effects.

scholarly journals Rapid volumetric brain changes after acute psychosocial stress

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Uhlig ◽  
Janis Dominik Reinelt ◽  
Mark Lauckner ◽  
H. Lina Schaare ◽  
Deniz Kumral ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Grey Matter Volume ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Brain Changes ◽  
Acute Psychosocial Stress

Rapid structural brain plasticity after acute stress has been shown in animals. It is unknown whether such stress-related brain changes also occur in humans, in which they have been found, using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), after motor learning and visual stimulation. We here investigated grey matter volume (GMV) changes after acute stress in humans and tested their relation to psychophysiological stress measures. Sixty-seven healthy men (25.8 +/- 2.7 years) completed a standardized psychosocial laboratory stressor (Trier Social Stress Test) or a control version while blood, saliva, heart rate, and psychometrics were sampled. T1-weighted MP2RAGE images at 3T MRI were acquired 45 min before and 90 min after intervention onset. GMV changes were analysed using voxel-based morphometry. Associations with endocrine, autonomic, and subjective stress measures were tested with linear models. We found significant group-by-time interactions in several brain clusters including anterior/mid-cingulate cortices and bilateral insula: GMV was increased in the stress group relative to the control group, in which several clusters showed a GMV decrease. We found no significant group-by-time interaction for other MRI parameters, including cerebral blood flow, but a significant association of GMV changes with state anxiety and heart rate variability changes. In summary, we show rapid GMV changes following acute psychosocial stress in humans. The results suggest that endogenous circadian brain changes are counteracted by acute stress and generally emphasize the influence of stress on the brain.

scholarly journals Anticipatory cognitive stress appraisal modulates suppression of wound-induced macrophage activation by acute psychosocial stress

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Kuebler ◽  
Petra H. Wirtz ◽  
Miho Sakai ◽  
Andreas Stemmer ◽  
Rebecca E. Meister ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Macrophage Activation ◽  
Stress Appraisal ◽  
Cognitive Stress ◽  
Acute Psychosocial Stress

scholarly journals The brain’s hemodynamic response function rapidly changes under acute psychosocial stress in association with genetic and endocrine stress response markers

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (43) ◽  
pp. E10206-E10215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Immanuel G. Elbau ◽  
Benedikt Brücklmeier ◽  
Manfred Uhr ◽  
Janine Arloth ◽  
Darina Czamara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Response Function ◽  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Hemodynamic Response ◽  
Hemodynamic Response Function ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
Acute Psychosocial Stress

Ample evidence links dysregulation of the stress response to the risk for psychiatric disorders. However, we lack an integrated understanding of mechanisms that are adaptive during the acute stress response but potentially pathogenic when dysregulated. One mechanistic link emerging from rodent studies is the interaction between stress effectors and neurovascular coupling, a process that adjusts cerebral blood flow according to local metabolic demands. Here, using task-related fMRI, we show that acute psychosocial stress rapidly impacts the peak latency of the hemodynamic response function (HRF-PL) in temporal, insular, and prefrontal regions in two independent cohorts of healthy humans. These latency effects occurred in the absence of amplitude effects and were moderated by regulatory genetic variants of KCNJ2, a known mediator of the effect of stress on vascular responsivity. Further, hippocampal HRF-PL correlated with both cortisol response and genetic variants that influence the transcriptional response to stress hormones and are associated with risk for major depression. We conclude that acute stress modulates hemodynamic response properties as part of the physiological stress response and suggest that HRF indices could serve as endophenotype of stress-related disorders.

scholarly journals Kinetics and Interrelations of the Renin Aldosterone Response to Acute Psychosocial Stress: A Neglected Stress System

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. e762-e773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelina Gideon ◽  
Christine Sauter ◽  
Judy Fieres ◽  
Thilo Berger ◽  
Britta Renner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Plasma Aldosterone ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Placebo Control ◽  
Stress System ◽  
Stress Induction ◽  
Acute Psychosocial Stress

Abstract Context The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) plays an important role in cardiovascular homeostasis and its dysfunction relates to negative health consequences. Acute psychosocial stress seems to activate the RAAS in humans, but stress kinetics and interrelations of RAAS parameters compared with a nonstress control group remain inconclusive. Objective We systematically investigated in a randomized placebo-controlled design stress kinetics and interrelations of the reactivity of RAAS parameters measured in plasma and saliva to standardized acute psychosocial stress induction. Methods 58 healthy young men were assigned to either a stress or a placebo control group. The stress group underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), while the control group underwent the placebo TSST. We repeatedly assessed plasma renin, and plasma and salivary aldosterone before and up to 3 hours after stress/placebo. We simultaneously assessed salivary cortisol to validate successful stress induction and to test for interrelations. Results Acute psychosocial stress induced significant increases in all endocrine measures compared with placebo-stress (all P ≤ .041). Highest renin levels were observed 1 minute after stress, and highest aldosterone and cortisol levels 10 and 20 minutes after stress, with salivary aldosterone starting earlier at 1 minute after stress. Renin completed recovery at 10 minutes, cortisol at 60 minutes, salivary aldosterone at 90 minutes, and plasma aldosterone at 180 minutes after stress. Stress increase scores of all endocrine measures related to each other, as did renin and cortisol areas under the curve with respect to increase (AUCi) and salivary and plasma aldosterone AUCi (all P ≤ .047). Conclusions Our findings suggest that in humans acute psychosocial stress induces a differential and interrelated RAAS parameter activation pattern. Potential implications for stress-related cardiovascular risk remain to be elucidated.

scholarly journals The effects of exercise training on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity and autonomic response to acute stress—a randomized controlled study

Trials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elin Arvidson ◽  
Anna Sjörs Dahlman ◽  
Mats Börjesson ◽  
Lennart Gullstrand ◽  
Ingibjörg H. Jonsdottir
Keyword(s):  
Exercise Training ◽  
Oxygen Uptake ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Acute Psychosocial Stress

Abstract Background Exercise training is suggested to have a stress-buffering effect on physiological reactions to acute stress. The so-called cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis is one of many theories behind the plausible effects, proposing that the attenuated physiological reaction seen in trained individuals in response to acute exercise is also seen when the individual is exposed to acute psychosocial stress. However, few randomized controlled trials (RCT) are available in this field. Therefore, the aim of the present trial was to study the effects of a 6-month aerobic exercise intervention on the physiological response to acute laboratory stress. Methods A two-armed RCT including untrained but healthy individuals aged 20–50 years was conducted. Assessments included a peak oxygen uptake test and a psychosocial stress test (the Trier Social Stress Test). A total of 88 participants went through both baseline and follow-up measures (48 in the intervention group and 40 in the control group) with a similar proportion of women and men (20 women and 28 men in the intervention group and 18 women and 22 men in the control group). Outcome measures were adrenocorticotrophic hormone, cortisol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate responses to acute psychosocial stress. Results Oxygen uptake and time-to-exhaustion increased significantly following the intervention, while a decrease was seen in the control group. The analyses showed attenuated responses to acute psychosocial stress for all variables in both groups at follow-up, with no differences between the groups. No correlation was seen between amount of exercise training and reactivity to the stress test. Despite the increased oxygen uptake in the intervention group, no differences were seen between the groups for any of the outcome variables at follow-up. Conclusions In this study, the cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis could not be confirmed. Both groups showed decreased reactions indicating a habituation to the stress test. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02051127. Registered on 31 January 2014—retrospectively registered.

scholarly journals Does Psychosocial Stress Impact Cognitive Reappraisal? Behavioral and Neural Evidence

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 1803-1816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maheen Shermohammed ◽  
Pranjal H. Mehta ◽  
Joan Zhang ◽  
Cassandra M. Brandes ◽  
Luke J. Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Cognitive Reappraisal ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Stress Group

Cognitive reappraisal (CR) is regarded as an effective emotion regulation strategy. Acute stress, however, is believed to impair the functioning of prefrontal-based neural systems, which could result in lessened effectiveness of CR under stress. This study tested the behavioral and neurobiological impact of acute stress on CR. While undergoing fMRI, adult participants ( n = 54) passively viewed or used CR to regulate their response to negative and neutral pictures and provided ratings of their negative affect in response to each picture. Half of the participants experienced an fMRI-adapted acute psychosocial stress manipulation similar to the Trier Social Stress Test, and a control group received parallel manipulations without the stressful components. Relative to the control group, the stress group exhibited heightened stress as indexed by self-report, heart rate, and salivary cortisol throughout the scan. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that reappraisal success was equivalent in the control and stress groups, as was electrodermal response to the pictures. Heart rate deceleration, a physiological response typically evoked by aversive pictures, was blunted in response to negative pictures and heightened in response to neutral pictures in the stress group. In the brain, we found weak evidence of stress-induced increases of reappraisal-related activity in parts of the PFC and left amygdala, but these relationships were statistically fragile. Together, these findings suggest that both the self-reported and neural effects of CR may be robust to at least moderate levels of stress, informing theoretical models of stress effects on cognition and emotion.

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