Acute stress potentiates anxiety in humans.
BACKGROUND
Stress is an important factor in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Stress also potentiates anxiety-like response in animals, but empirical evidence for a similar effect in humans is still lacking.


METHODS
To test whether stress increases anxiety in humans, we examined the ability of a social stressor (speech and a counting task) to potentiate the facilitation of startle in the dark. Measures of subjective distress and of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and autonomic nervous system activity (e.g., salivary cortisol, alpha-amylase, blood pressure, and heart rate) were also taken to confirm the effectiveness of the stress manipulation.


RESULTS
Startle was significantly facilitated in the dark. This effect was potentiated by prior exposure to the social stressor. The social stressor induced increases in salivary cortisol and alpha amylase as well as increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and subjective distress.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings indicate that stress potentiates anxiety. Animal studies suggest that such an effect might be mediated by glucocorticoid effects on corticotropin-releasing hormone in limbic structures.
Grillon
Christian
C
Unit of Affective Psychophysiology, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-2670, USA. Christian.grillon@nih.gov
Duncko
Roman
R
Covington
Matthew F
MF
Kopperman
Lori
L
Kling
Mitchel A
MA
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D013997:Time Factors; D000516:alpha-Amylases / Q000378:metabolism
D000516:alpha-Amylases; D006854:Hydrocortisone
Science. 1992 Jul 24;257(5069):537-9
1636089
Biol Psychiatry. 2006 Mar 15;59(6):516-22
16213468
Stress. 1999 Aug;3(1):27-40
19016191
Neuropsychobiology. 1993;28(1-2):76-81
8255414
J Neurosci. 1997 Dec 1;17(23):9375-83
9364083
Biol Psychiatry. 1997 Sep 15;42(6):461-71
9285082
Brain Res. 1999 Nov 27;848(1-2):141-52
10612706
J Comp Neurol. 1989 Jul 22;285(4):413-35
2569487
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1999 Nov;147(2):174-81
10591885
Depress Anxiety. 1997;5(2):66-72
9262936
Learn Mem. 2007 May;14(5):329-35
17522023
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1987;92(1):1-7
3110818
Neuroscience. 2002;112(1):13-21
12044468
Neurochem Int. 1986;9(3):437-45
20493144
Behav Neurosci. 1999 Oct;113(5):902-13
10571474
Clin Neurophysiol. 2003 Sep;114(9):1557-79
12948786
Eur J Pharmacol. 2003 Feb 28;463(1-3):163-75
12600708
Learn Mem. 2004 Mar-Apr;11(2):137-44
15054128
Brain Res Bull. 1992 Sep-Oct;29(3-4):381-8
1393611
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2001 Dec;25(7-8):721-44
11801297
Biol Psychiatry. 1997 Sep 15;42(6):453-60
9285081
Biol Psychiatry. 2003 Nov 15;54(10):1041-8
14625146
Trends Neurosci. 2005 Dec;28(12):629-35
16214230
Brain Res. 1994 Sep 19;657(1-2):141-9
7820612
Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1997 Nov;58(3):737-46
9329067
Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2004 Dec;47(1-3):145-60
15572169