title: Use of skin conductance changes during mental stress testing as an index of autonomic arousal in cardiovascular research.
abstract: Mental stress testing is used to study the cardiovascular changes caused by psychologic stress. To examine the effects of cardiac drugs on mental stress-induced changes, it is useful to attain a degree of arousal that can be replicated in serial studies. Skin conductance level, a cholinergically mediated index of arousal, was assessed for its stability in serial studies and under conditions of beta-blockade. In normal subjects, skin conductance increased in response to mental stress (p < 0.001) and was stable across three sessions. In patients with mild hypertension, skin conductance was elevated during mental stress during both placebo and nadolol therapy (p < 0.001). As expected, nadolol reduced baseline and stress-induced peak arterial pressure and heart rate but had no significant effect on skin conductance. Thus skin conductance level can serve as a stable and useful index of autonomic arousal in clinical trials, even in patients using beta-blocking medications.
authors.affiliation: Mind/Body Medical Institute, Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Mass.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Tofler
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Jimenez
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Stone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes / Q000502:physiology*; D009248:Nadolol / Q000494:pharmacology; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D009248:Nadolol