Negative affect as a predisposing factor for cortisol release after an acute stress—the impact of unpleasant priming

Abstract

Glucocorticoids have a key role in stress responses. There are, however, substantial differences in cortisol reactivity among individuals. We investigated if affective trait and mood induction influence the reactivity to psychological stress in a group of 63 young adults, male (n=27) and female (n=36), aged ca. 21 years. On the experimental day the participants viewed either a block of pleasant or unpleasant pictures for 5 min to induce positive or negative mood, respectively. Then, they had 5 min to prepare a speech to be delivered in front of a video-camera. Saliva samples were collected to measure cortisol, and questionnaire-based affective scales were used to estimate emotional states and traits. Compared to basal levels, a cortisol response to the acute speech stressor was only seen for those who had first viewed unpleasant pictures and scored above the average on the negative affect scale. There were no sex differences. In conclusion, high negative affect associated with exposure to an unpleasant context increased sensitivity to an acute stressor, and was critical to stimulation of cortisol release by the speech stressor.

The stress-buffering effect of acute exercise: Evidence for HPA axis negative feedback

“…Interestingly, the exercise-induced mood improvement turned out to be relevant at another level: increases in positive affect and decreases in negative affect during exercise were negatively correlated to MIST-related cortisol increases (positive affect: r = −.456, p = .005, negative affect: r = −.358, p = .032). Although few studies have directly investigated the stress-buffering effects of state positive and negative affect, this is in line with studies that found higher HPA axis reactivity after negative mood induction (Mendonca-De-Souza et al, 2007) and lower stress reactivity in subjects with higher (trait) positive affect (Steptoe et al, 2007;Dockray and Steptoe, 2010). Since positive affect and cortisol changes after treatment were positively correlated (discussed above); this suggests interactions between affective changes and neuroendocrine mechanisms with regard to the stress-buffering action of exercise.…”

Antidepressive Mechanisms of Probiotics and Their Therapeutic Potential

“…Furthermore, MDD patients perceive stress as more threatening and challenging to cope with compared to healthy individuals (Farabaugh et al, 2004;Salomon et al, 2009). These negative emotions can increase their sensitivity to stressors, such as an elevated cortisol response (Mendonca-de-Souza et al, 2007). To restore this malfunctioned axis, probiotics have been demonstrated by meta-analyses and systematic reviews as a potential treatment for MDD/depression Pirbaglou et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2016;McKean et al, 2017;Wallace and Milev, 2017).…”

Neural - hormonal responses to negative affective stimuli: Impact of dysphoric mood and sex

“…Cortisol is the most direct measure of “stress hormone physiology” related to HPA axis functioning (Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004; Bozovic et al, 2013), and it provides a stimulus for negative feedback that attenuates activity of the PVN through limbic (hippocampal) and mPFC areas (Herman et al, 2005). Behavioral studies reported a positive relationship between negative affect trait and cortisol response (Mendoca-De-Souza et al, 2007; Quiring et al, 2009. Functional MRI (fMRI) studies showed that increased cortisol response predicted blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal activity in limbic and frontal regions (Thomason et al, 2011; Collip & Nicolson, 2011; Holsen et al, 2013; Goldstein, et al, 2014), modulating neural circuits related to affect and cognition (Henckens et al, 2010; Holsen et al, 2011).…”