scholarly journals Autonomic, hormonal, and subjective responses to a modified version of the TSST: a pilot study

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-431
Author(s):  
Laura Espín López ◽  
Alicia Salvador ◽  
Jesús Gómez-Amor
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Menstrual Cycle ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Luteal Phase ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Cycle Phase ◽  
Specific Response ◽  
Las Mujeres ◽  
Conductance Level

El objetivo de esta investigación fue estudiar las respuestas hormonales, autonómicas y afectivas a una versión modificada del estresor TSST en una muestra de jóvenes universitarios compuesta de treinta y ocho sujetos (11 hombres y veintisiete mujeres, 11 en la fase lútea del ciclo menstrual, 16 mujeres en la fase folicular). La respuesta hormonal se evaluó con niveles de cortisol. La frecuencia cardíaca y la actividad electrodérmica se registraron durante toda la sesión experimental y la ansiedad rasgo y estado se evaluaron antes y después de la tarea. La fase de discurso provocó la frecuencia cardíaca más alta, la mayor frecuencia de respuestas inespecíficas y el mayor nivel de conductancia de la piel, mostrando diferencias significativas con la fase de habituación. Sin embargo, la respuesta de cortisol salival no fue significativa con respecto al factor estresante. En relación con las diferencias de sexo, independientemente del factor estresante,los hombres mostraron una mayor frecuencia de respuesta inespecífica, un mayor nivel de conductancia de la piel que las mujeres y mayores niveles de cortisol en comparación con las mujeres en la fase lútea. La ansiedad estado fue similar pre y postarea y no reveló ninguna diferencia asociada con el sexo o la fase del ciclo menstrual. Nuestros resultados sugieren que el eje HHA no responde al TSST sentado y proporcionó evidencia de que el TSST provoca diferentes patrones de respuesta psicofisiológica dependiendo de algunas variaciones del protocolo. The aim of this research was to study hormonal, autonomic and affective responses to a modified version of the stressor TSST in a sample of young university students composed for thirty-eight subjects (11 men and twenty seven women, 11 in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, 16 women in the follicular phase). The hormonal response was evaluated with levels of cortisol. Heart rate and Electrodermal Activity were recorded during all the experimental session and trait-state anxiety was evaluated before and after the task. The speech phase elicited the highest heart rate, frequency of non-specific response and skin conductance level, showing significant differences mainly with the habituation phase. However, the salivary cortisol response was not significant with respect to stressor. In relation with sex differences, regardless of the stressor, menshowed higher frequency of non-specific response, greater skin conductance level than women and higher cortisol levels in comparison with women in the luteal phase. State-anxiety was similar pre-/post task and did not reveal any difference associated to sex or menstrual cycle phase. Our results suggest that the HPA axis not response to sitting TSST and provided evidence that TSST elicits different pattern of psychophysiological response depending on some protocol variations.

scholarly journals Physiological synchrony promotes cooperative success in real-life interactions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Behrens ◽  
J. A. Snijdewint ◽  
R. G. Moulder ◽  
E. Prochazkova ◽  
E. E. Sjak-Shie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Cooperative Behavior ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Dyadic Interaction ◽  
Gut Feelings ◽  
The Face ◽  
Social Decision Making ◽  
Conductance Level

AbstractCooperation is pivotal for society to flourish and prosper. To ease cooperation, humans express and read emotions and intentions via explicit signals or subtle reflections of arousal visible in the face. Evidence is accumulating that humans synchronize these nonverbal expressions, as well as the physiological mechanisms underlying them, potentially promoting cooperative behavior. The current study is designed to verify the existence of this putative linkage between synchrony and cooperation. To that extent, 152 participants played multiple rounds of the Prisoner’s Dilemma game in a naturalistic dyadic interaction setting. During one round of games they could see each other, and during a second round they could not. The results showed that when people’s heart rate and skin conductance level aligned, they cooperated more successfully. Interestingly, for skin conductance level synchrony to boost cooperation, face to face contact was essential. The effect of heart rate synchrony on cooperation was context independent. Skin conductance level, but not heart rate, tended to closely correlate with changes in pupil size and we discuss how the pupil might provide a window to partners’ sympathetic arousal. These findings show how unconscious mechanisms guide social behavior and emphasize the importance of studying social processes between rather than within individuals in real-life interactions.Significance StatementHuman cooperation is remarkable in its scale, complexity, and efficiency. However, whereas people think of themselves as rational agents, they actually partly base their decision to cooperate with someone on gut feelings. These feelings are informed by non-verbal expressions that are picked up implicitly and that synchronize across interaction partners. For the first time, we show that the alignment of people’s arousal over multiple rounds of the Prisoners’ dilemma game predicts cooperative success. Through synchrony, partners converge emotionally, fostering understanding and bonding, which are key ingredients when it comes to successful cooperation. This suggests that successfully cooperating does not depend on individuals, but on the connection between individuals, emphasizing the importance of studying social decision-making processes in real-life settings.

scholarly journals Exposure to virtual nature: the impact of different immersion levels on skin conductance level, heart rate, and perceived relaxation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiemo Knaust ◽  
Anna Felnhofer ◽  
Oswald D. Kothgassner ◽  
Helge Höllmer ◽  
Robert-Jacek Gorzka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Head Mounted Display ◽  
Relaxation Effects ◽  
Subject Experiment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Conductance Level

AbstractIt is generally accepted that natural environments reduce stress and improve mood. Since access to natural environments is sometimes limited, virtual natural environments, especially monoscopic 360° nature videos, offer a viable alternative. However, it remains unclear whether presenting monoscopic 360° nature videos via a head-mounted display (HMD) or a PC monitor results in larger relaxation effects. Therefore, this study examined whether a monoscopic 360° beach video presented with an HMD is significantly more relaxing than the same video presented via a PC screen, or no video at all (control condition), in altering skin conductance level (SCL), heart rate (HR), and perceived relaxation. Overall, 102 adults (40.2% females, age range 19–62 years) participated in a counterbalanced, randomized, controlled, within-subject experiment. All participants were subjected to three stressors comprising different mental arithmetic tasks, followed by three different recovery phases (HMD, PC, control). For SCL, the results showed a significantly larger decrease in the HMD and PC than in the control condition, but no significant differences between the HMD and PC condition. For HR, there were no significant differences between the recovery conditions. However, the HMD condition was rated significantly more relaxing than the other conditions, with no significant differences between the PC and control condition. Exploratory analyses showed that these results were not moderated by the participants’ age, gender, or technology anxiety. Overall, the psychophysiological results showed no significant benefit favoring the HMD over PC condition, although the self-reported relaxation ratings did. Future studies are warranted to clarify this divergence.

scholarly journals Home measures of anxiety, avoidant coping and defence as predictors of anxiety, heart rate and skin conductance level just before invasive cardiovascular procedures

1994 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mieke de Jong ◽  
Rudolph A.M. Erdman ◽  
Marcel J.B.M. van den Brand ◽  
Frans Verhage ◽  
Rutger W. Trijsburg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Avoidant Coping ◽  
Conductance Level

scholarly journals Real-life dental examination elicits physiological responses different to visual and auditory dental-related stimuli

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0252128
Author(s):  
Tadea Košir ◽  
Jakob Sajovic ◽  
Maja Grošelj ◽  
Aleš Fidler ◽  
Gorazd Drevenšek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Dental Anxiety ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Dental Examination ◽  
Conductance Level

Background Previous studies on dental anxiety have examined the psychophysiological responses evoked in dentally anxious subjects by dental-related stimuli, but not during a real-life dental examination, which was achieved in the present study. Methods The heart rate, skin conductance level, and heart rate variability of 25 subjects with dental anxiety and 25 healthy controls were examined. Anxiety was determined by the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale and the Dental Anxiety Scale–Revised. The psychophysiological reactions of the two groups were compared during exposure to dental-related pictures, dental-related sounds, and an actual examination in a dental surgery. Results All the dental-related stimuli provoked an increase in heart rate, i.e. visual stimuli (p<0.001; 95% CI 0.98–3.95 bpm), auditory stimuli (p<0.001; 95% CI 1.34–4.99 bpm), and a dental examination (p<0.001; 95% CI 1.26–5.39 bpm). Dental-related pictures provoked inferior skin conductance level changes compared to dental-related sounds and the dental examination (visual modality vs auditory p<0.001; 95% CI 0.039–0.152; visual modality vs examination p<0.001; 95% CI 0.083–0.275). Heart rate variability manifested in a complex pattern of responses to the dental examination. However, when exposed to all three dental-related stimuli presentation conditions, the heart rate (F = 0.352, p = 0.556), skin conductance level (F = 0.009, p = 0.926), and heart rate variability parameters of subjects with dental anxiety did not differ in comparison to the healthy controls. Conclusions This pilot study represents an evaluation of psychophysiological reactions during a real-life dental examination compared to single modality stimuli, and shows that a real-life dental examination provokes an increase in heart rate, heart rate variability and skin conductance level. Additionally, autonomic responses did not differ between the experimental and control groups. The key issue for future studies is the effect of real-life situations on the physiological and psychological state of the subjects, which should be considered when planning new research and studied in depth.

The Effect of Searching Versus Surfing on Cognitive and Emotional Responses to Online News

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Wise ◽  
Hyo Jung Kim ◽  
Jeesum Kim
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Skin Conductance ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Online News ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Mixed Design ◽  
Information Need ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Rate Acceleration

A mixed-design experiment was conducted to explore differences between searching and surfing on cognitive and emotional responses to online news. Ninety-two participants read three unpleasant news stories from a website. Half of the participants acquired their stories by searching, meaning they had a previous information need in mind. The other half of the participants acquired their stories by surfing, with no previous information need in mind. Heart rate, skin conductance, and corrugator activation were collected as measures of resource allocation, motivational activation, and unpleasantness, respectively, while participants read each story. Self-report valence and recognition accuracy were also measured. Stories acquired by searching elicited greater heart rate acceleration, skin conductance level, and corrugator activation during reading. These stories were rated as more unpleasant, and their details were recognized more accurately than similar stories that were acquired by surfing. Implications of these results for understanding how people process online media are discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document