title: Cortisol effects of D-amphetamine relate to traits of fearlessness and aggression but not anxiety in healthy humans.
abstract: The current study utilized personality measures thought to relate to noradrenergic and catecholamine function (i.e., sensation seeking, anxiety and aggression) to investigate individual differences in amphetamine-induced increases in cortisol. The goal of the study was to better understand variations in responses to psychostimulants in healthy volunteers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A placebo-controlled within-subjects investigation of salivary cortisol responses to oral D-amphetamine (20 mg) was conducted in seventy (N=70) young adults. Personality traits were assessed using the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), Sensation Seeking Scale Form V (SSS-V) and the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire-Brief Form (MPQ-BF).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A more rapid rise in salivary cortisol after d-amphetamine was associated with SSS-V Thrill Seeking (r=-0.32 with time to peak, p<0.05). A greater peak increase in cortisol and a greater recovery after amphetamine was positively associated with MPQ-BF Aggression (r=+0.35, p<0.05; r=+0.38, p<0.05). In contrast, cortisol responses were unrelated to a composite measure of trait anxiety (EPI/MPQ-BF Anxiety Index).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that the personality traits of aggression and thrill seeking are related to cortisol responses to d-amphetamine, raising the possibility that personality may predispose certain individuals to use drugs through a glucocorticoid pathway. The data also suggest a distinction between fear and anxiety, as amphetamine-induced cortisol responses were associated with measures of trait fear but not measures of trait anxiety in the current sample.
authors.affiliation: Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA. Tara_White@Brown.edu
authors.forename: Tara L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Vandana K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Grover
authors.forename: Harriet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: de Wit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D003913:Dextroamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D003913:Dextroamphetamine; D006854:Hydrocortisone