We evaluated the effects of two laboratory stressors (speech preparation and isometric handgrip) on gastric myoelectrical and autonomic cardiac activity, and the extent to which autonomic responses to these stressors and somatization predict reports of motion sickness during exposure to a rotating optokinetic drum. Both stressors prompted a decrease in preejection period (PEP) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and an increase in a dysrhythmic pattern of gastric myoelectrical activity, termed gastric tachyarrhythmia. Stressor-induced decreases in RSA and higher somatization scores predicted increased reports of motion sickness during drum rotation. These results demonstrate that laboratory stressors concurrently affect gastric myoelectrical activity and autonomic control of the heart, and that stressor-induced decreases in RSA and higher levels of somatization predict motion sickness susceptibility.
DescriptorsElectrogastrography; Impedance cardiography; Motion sickness; Parasympathetic; Somatization; Stress; Sympathetic Individuals often report epigastric symptoms during stressful experiences (Stern & Higgins, 1969). These symptoms are reflected in such expressions as "a nervous stomach" and may range in severity from a simple awareness of gastric activity to a sensation that disrupts ongoing behavior. Although recent epidemiological findings indicate that there is an increased prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms among individuals with affective disorders (Hochstrasser & Angst, 1996;Lydiard et al., 1994;Marten et al., 1993) and an increased prevalence of negative affect and stressful life events among individuals with functional gastrointestinal disorders (Bennett et al., 1997;Bennett, Tennant, Piesse, Badcock, & Kellow, 1998;Whitehead, , 1996Whitehead, Crowell, Robinson, Heller, & Schuster, 1992), the effects of stressful experiences on the human stomach have been studied infrequently over the last several decades. One reason for the relative dearth of research on gastric reactivity to stress is that most gastrointestinal measurement procedures are invasive.Address reprint requests to: Peter J. Gianaros, E1329 Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara St., Pitts-burgh, PA 15213, USA. pjg4@pitt.edu. A preliminary report of these findings was made at the 40th Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, October 18-22, 2000, San Diego, CA.
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Author ManuscriptPsychophysiology. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 July 15.
Published in final edited form as:Psychophysiology. 2001 July ; 38(4): 642-652.
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NIH-PA Author ManuscriptFor example, the earliest work to document the effects of stress and negative affect on gastric activity was conducted with individuals whose stomachs were exposed with a fistula (e.g., Beaumont, 1833;Wolf & Wolff, 1947). More recently, gastric intubation and intraluminal pressure recording techniques have been used to show that stressors such as electr...