Coregulation in Salivary Cortisol During Maternal Holding of Premature Infants

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine coregulation between mothers and preterm infants in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system activity, as indicated by salivary cortisol levels, while mothers held their infants. The research questions were (a) does mother—infant coregulation in HPA activity occur during holding? and (b) if mother— infant coregulation in HPA activity exists during holding, do type of holding, antenatal steroids, sound level, and maternal touch influence this coregulation? Sample: The sample consisted of 20 mother— infant dyads with infants at a mean postconceptional age of 34.7 weeks (+0.7) and average postnatal age of 15 days (+9) at the time of cortisol sampling. Design: The design was exploratory using convenience sampling. Maternal and infant cortisol levels were obtained at Time 1 (baseline) and Time 2 (end of holding); at each time, the absolute differences in levels between mother and infant were determined. Coregulation was operationalized as less difference between maternal-infant cortisol levels immediately after holding (Time 2) as compared to before holding (Time 1). Results: The two variables with the highest correlation with the Time 1/Time 2 difference score included antenatal steroids and ambient sound level, which were entered into a linear regression equation as predictor variables. A coregulatory relationship in cortisol levels existed between mothers and infants during holding, which was moderated by sound levels. Nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can facilitate the mother—infant relationship, as reflected in coregulatory measures, by promoting a quiet environment, particularly around mothers who are holding their infants.

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Music Therapy in the Medical Care of Infants

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199639755.013.23 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Helen Shoemark ◽

Trish Dearn

Keyword(s):

Music Therapy ◽

Medical Care ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Infant Development ◽

Developmental Care ◽

Physical Context ◽

Sound Levels ◽

Ambient Sound ◽

Nutritive Sucking ◽

History Of

This chapter describes the ways in which music therapy can be provided to preterm infants or full-term who require medical care for complex issues that require hospitalization after birth. The history of Newborn Music Therapy research includes the application of music to change pain, non-nutritive sucking, feeding, with kangaroo care, and in developmental care. The modalities include recorded music and singing, and live singing and gentle instrument playing. Underpinning the application of music in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are considerations of the ambient sound levels of the NICU, the age of the infant, the physical context, timing of session. The significance of the parents’ experience in family-centerd music therapy in hospital is highlighted, as is the pivotal role of the music therapist to stimulate and facilitate music as part of healthy infant development.

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Impact of Educational and Visual Sign Interventions on Noise Reduction in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs)

10.21203/rs.2.16506/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Gholamreza Faal ◽

Afsaneh Davodi ◽

Fatemeh Taheri ◽

Vahideh Abolhasnnezhad

Keyword(s):

Intensive Care ◽

Noise Reduction ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Night Shift ◽

Educational Interventions ◽

Sound Level ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Sound Levels ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Visual Sign

Abstract Background High levels of sound have several negative impacts such as noise-induced hearing loss and delayed growth and development on newborn in NICUs. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that NICU sound levels remain below 45 dBA. The aim of this research is to determine the effect of educational and visual sign interventions on noise reduction in Neonatal Intensive Care Units.Methods This Quasi-experimental study (before-after study) was conducted in the NICU of Vali-e-Asr Hospital, Birjand in 2016. A total of 21 participants including NICU doctors and hospital staff could enter the NICU. The sound levels in the NICU were measured by a calibrated digital sound-level meter and placed at a height of 1.5 meters at various stations and three different working shifts. Subsequently, the post-training and visual signs (flags and posters) were utilized at the NICU.Results There was a significant difference in the means of the sound levels between stages 2 and 3 of the study (P=0.009) as well as a significant decrease in the level of sound between stages 2 and 3. The means of the minimum sound level in the morning and night shifts in the three different study periods indicated a significant decline (P<0.05), while in the afternoon shifts the minimum sound levels showed a significant increase which was also significant before and after the intervention (P=0.046). The maximum sound level dropped significantly (P=0.045) in the night shift compared to the three different study periods, as well as in the pre- and post-intervention phases (P=0.04).Conclusions Noise in our NICU was more than the recommended sound levels of 45 dBA. However, educational interventions and warning visual signs seemed effective in reducing sound levels, particularly in the night shift in the NICU station.

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Noise and vehicular motion as potential stressors during the transport of sheep

Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s1357729800032884 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 67 (3) ◽

pp. 467-473 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

S. J. G. Hall ◽

S. M. Kirkpatrick ◽

D. M. Lloyd ◽

D. M. Broom

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Salivary Cortisol ◽

Ambient Noise ◽

Noise Source ◽

Stocking Density ◽

Cortisol Concentration ◽

Consistent Effect ◽

Sound Levels ◽

Ambient Sound ◽

Poor Welfare

AbstractDuring three journeys of 15 h in a lorry and two sets of experiments in a trailer, the relative importance of ambient noise and vehicular motion were assessed by measurements of salivary cortisol concentration, heart rate and behaviour. Mean sound levels in the lorry were approximately 96 dbA with occasional episodes at 103 dbA. Vehicular motion was assessed in terms of numbers and magnitude of acceleration events registered by a triaxial accelerometer. The three lorry journeys showed, respectively, that heart rate was correlated with vehicular motion when sheep were loosely stocked (0·41 m2 per sheep) but not when they were tightly stocked (0·28 m2 per sheep); that heart rate sometimes tended to increase when ambient sound was greater and that the effect of sound was not as consistent as that of vehicular motion. In the first trailer experiment, salivary cortisol response was the same whether sheep confined in a quiet stationary trailer (60 dbA) were or were not exposed to extra noise (90 dbA) while heart rate was higher in the former condition. In the second trailer experiment when the trailer was being towed on public roads with or without extra noise (92·3 and 100·5 dbA respectively), heart rate and salivary cortisol concentration were both elevated compared with control sheep in a pen but the extra noise had no consistent effect. The sheep showed no orientation away from the noise source, nor was there any difference in their expression of a behaviour (standing with the head below the level of the shoulders) which could indicate discomfort. Hence vehicular motion can result in poor welfare in sheep, especially at loose stocking density but ambient noise was not found to have a consistent effect.

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Salivary cortisol as a non-invasive approach to assess stress in dystocic dairy calves

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-85666-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Levente Kovács ◽

Fruzsina Luca Kézér ◽

Szilárd Bodó ◽

Ferenc Ruff ◽

Rupert Palme ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Birth Weight ◽

Body Condition ◽

Salivary Cortisol ◽

Sampling Period ◽

Dairy Calves ◽

Birth Process ◽

Invasive Approach ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Saliva Cortisol ◽

Cortisol Levels

AbstractThe intensity and the magnitude of saliva cortisol responses were investigated during the first 48 h following birth in newborn dairy calves which underwent normal (eutocic, EUT, n = 88) and difficult (dystocic, DYS, n = 70) calvings. The effects of parity and body condition of the dam, the duration of parturition, the time spent licking the calf, the sex and birth weight of the calf were also analyzed. Neonatal salivary cortisol concentrations were influenced neither by factors related to the dam (parity, body condition) nor the calf (sex, birth weight). The duration of parturition and the time spent licking the calf also had no effect on salivary cortisol levels. Salivary cortisol concentrations increased rapidly after delivery in both groups to reach their peak levels at 45 and 60 min after delivery in EUT and DYS calves, respectively supporting that the birth process means considerable stress for calves and the immediate postnatal period also appears to be stressful for newborn calves. DYS calves exhibited higher salivary cortisol concentrations compared to EUT ones for 0 (P = 0.022), 15 (P = 0.016), 30 (P = 0.007), 45 (P = 0.003), 60 (P = 0.001) and 120 min (P = 0.001), and for 24 h (P = 0.040), respectively. Peak levels of salivary cortisol and the cortisol release into saliva calculated as AUC were higher in DYS than in EUT calves for the 48-h of the sampling period (P = 0.009 and P = 0.003, respectively). The greater magnitude of saliva cortisol levels in DYS calves compared to EUT ones suggest that difficult parturition means severe stress for bovine neonates and salivary cortisol could be an opportunity for non-invasive assessment of stress during the early neonatal period in cattle.

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Diurnal Salivary Cortisol in Sarcopenic Postmenopausal Women: The OsteoLaus Cohort

Calcified Tissue International ◽

10.1007/s00223-021-00863-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Elena Gonzalez Rodriguez ◽

Pedro Marques-Vidal ◽

Bérengère Aubry-Rozier ◽

Georgios Papadakis ◽

Martin Preisig ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Postmenopausal Women ◽

Salivary Cortisol ◽

Population Based ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Body Composition Assessment ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

X Ray ◽

Free Cortisol ◽

Cortisol Levels ◽

The Relationship

AbstractSarcopenia, similar to hypercortisolism, is characterized by loss of muscle mass and strength. Cortisol circadian rhythm changes with aging (blunted late-day nadir values) were suggested to contribute to this decline. We aimed to explore the relationship between diurnal salivary cortisol values and sarcopenia diagnosis and its components in postmenopausal women. This is a cross-sectional study within the OsteoLaus population-based cohort in Lausanne (Switzerland). Participants had a body composition assessment by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), a grip strength (GS) measure, and salivary cortisol measures (at awakening, 30 min thereafter, 11 AM (sc-11AM) and 8 PM (sc-8PM)). Associations between salivary cortisol and sarcopenia diagnosed by six different criteria (based on appendicular lean mass (ALM) assessed by DXA, and muscle strength by GS), and its components, were analyzed. 471 women aged > 50 years (63.0 ± 7.5) were included. Various definitions identified different participants as sarcopenic, who consistently presented higher salivary cortisol at 11 AM and/or 8 PM. There were no associations between salivary cortisol levels and ALM measures, either absolute or after correction to height squared (ALM index) or body mass index. GS was inversely correlated to sc-11AM (r = − 0.153, p < 0.001) and sc-8PM (r = − 0.118, p = 0.002). Each 10 nmol/l increase of sc-11AM, respectively sc-8PM, was associated with a GS decrease of 1.758 (SE 0.472) kg, respectively 2.929 (SE 1.115) kg. In postmenopausal women, sarcopenia is associated with higher salivary cortisol levels at 11 AM and 8 PM. An increase of daily free cortisol levels in the physiological range could participate to sarcopenia development by decreasing muscle function in postmenopausal women.

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The Spatial Selective Auditory Attention of Cochlear Implant Users in Different Conversational Sound Levels

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10143078 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (14) ◽

pp. 3078

Author(s):

Sara Akbarzadeh ◽

Sungmin Lee ◽

Chin-Tuan Tan

Keyword(s):

Cochlear Implant ◽

Sound Level ◽

Auditory Attention ◽

Impaired Hearing ◽

Speech Stimuli ◽

Electric Hearing ◽

Sound Levels ◽

Acoustic Hearing ◽

Speech Envelope ◽

Different Levels

In multi-speaker environments, cochlear implant (CI) users may attend to a target sound source in a different manner from normal hearing (NH) individuals during a conversation. This study attempted to investigate the effect of conversational sound levels on the mechanisms adopted by CI and NH listeners in selective auditory attention and how it affects their daily conversation. Nine CI users (five bilateral, three unilateral, and one bimodal) and eight NH listeners participated in this study. The behavioral speech recognition scores were collected using a matrix sentences test, and neural tracking to speech envelope was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG). Speech stimuli were presented at three different levels (75, 65, and 55 dB SPL) in the presence of two maskers from three spatially separated speakers. Different combinations of assisted/impaired hearing modes were evaluated for CI users, and the outcomes were analyzed in three categories: electric hearing only, acoustic hearing only, and electric + acoustic hearing. Our results showed that increasing the conversational sound level degraded the selective auditory attention in electrical hearing. On the other hand, increasing the sound level improved the selective auditory attention for the acoustic hearing group. In the NH listeners, however, increasing the sound level did not cause a significant change in the auditory attention. Our result implies that the effect of the sound level on selective auditory attention varies depending on the hearing modes, and the loudness control is necessary for the ease of attending to the conversation by CI users.

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Commentary on salivary cortisol levels as a biomarker for severity of withdrawal in opioid-exposed newborns

Pediatric Research ◽

10.1038/s41390-020-0817-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 87 (6) ◽

pp. 982-983

Author(s):

Dina E. El-Metwally

Keyword(s):

Salivary Cortisol ◽

Cortisol Levels

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Adverse childhood experiences, daytime salivary cortisol, and depressive symptoms in early adulthood: a longitudinal genetically informed twin study

Translational Psychiatry ◽

10.1038/s41398-021-01538-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Eleonora Iob ◽

Jessie R. Baldwin ◽

Robert Plomin ◽

Andrew Steptoe

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Hpa Axis ◽

Salivary Cortisol ◽

Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽

Emotional Abuse ◽

Early Adulthood ◽

Cumulative Exposure ◽

Childhood Experiences ◽

Adverse Childhood ◽

Cortisol Levels

AbstractDysregulated hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA)-axis function might underlie the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and depression. However, limited research has examined the possible mediating role of the HPA-axis among young people using longitudinal data. Moreover, it remains unclear whether genetic influences could contribute to these associations. Participants were 290 children from the Twins Early Development Study. ACEs were assessed from age 3–11 years. We calculated a cumulative risk score and also derived different ACEs clusters using factor analysis and latent class analysis. HPA-axis activity was indexed by daytime salivary cortisol at age 11. Depressive symptoms were ascertained at age 21. Genetic liability to altered cortisol levels and elevated depressive symptoms was measured using a twin-based method. We performed causal mediation analysis with mixed-effects regression models. The results showed that ACEs cumulative exposure (b = −0.20, p = 0.03), bullying (b = −0.61, p = 0.01), and emotional abuse (b = −0.84, p = 0.02) were associated with lower cortisol levels at age 11. Among participants exposed to multiple ACEs, lower cortisol was related to higher depressive symptoms at age 21 (b = −0.56, p = 0.05). Lower cortisol levels mediated around 10–20% of the total associations of ACEs cumulative exposure, bullying, and dysfunctional parenting/emotional abuse with higher depressive symptoms. Genetic factors contributed to these associations, but the mediation effects of cortisol in the associations of ACEs cumulative exposure (b = 0.16 [0.02–0.34]) and bullying (b = 0.18 [0.01–0.43]) remained when genetic confounding was accounted for. In conclusion, ACEs were linked to elevated depressive symptoms in early adulthood partly through lower cortisol levels in early adolescence, and these relationships were independent of genetic confounding.

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The Impact of Notification Modality and Ambient Sound on Users’ Mobile Interaction

Symmetry ◽

10.3390/sym13030395 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 395

Author(s):

Chien-Hsiung Chen ◽

Miao Huang

Keyword(s):

Completion Time ◽

Sampling Method ◽

Sound Level ◽

Task Completion ◽

Maze Task ◽

Task Completion Time ◽

Mobile Interaction ◽

Ambient Sound ◽

Convenience Sampling ◽

The Impact

This study investigated the impacts of different notification modalities used in low and high ambient sound environments for mobile phone interaction. Three different notification modalities—Shaking Visual, Shaking Visual + Vibration, and Vibration—were designed and experimentally tested by asking users to conduct a maze task. A total of 72 participants were invited to take part in the experiment through the convenience sampling method. The generated results indicated that (1) the notification modality affects participants’ task completion time, (2) the error rate pertinent to the number of notifications is positively related to the participants’ task completion time, and (3) the ambient sound level and notification modalities impact the overall experience of the participants. The main contributions of this study are twofold. First, it verifies that the multi-dimensional feature of a Shaking Visual + Vibration synesthesia notification design is implementable. Second, this study demonstrated that the synesthesia notification could be feasible for mobile notification, and it was more perceptible by the users.

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