title: Psychophysiological responses to CO₂inhalation.
abstract: Inhalation of CO(2)-enriched air has been used as a laboratory model for a number of anxiety disorders, such as general anxiety disorder and panic disorder. Because studies describing psychophysiological responses to this challenge are scarce, the present studies investigated skin conductance level, eyeblink startle, self-reported anxiety and fractional end-tidal carbon dioxide during inhalation of CO(2)-enriched air. In study 1, thirty-five healthy volunteers inhaled 7.5% CO(2) for 2min. In study 2, twenty healthy volunteers inhaled 20% CO(2) for 30s. Control groups (N=20 in each study) inhaled room air during the same time periods. Compared to room air breathing, both CO(2)-mixtures were associated with increases in skin conductance levels, self-reported anxiety and fractional end-tidal CO(2.) Eyeblink startles were inhibited during CO(2) compared to room air breathing in both experiments. Our findings suggest that inhalation of CO(2)-enriched air is associated with a circa-strike defensive response pattern, corroborating its application as an interoceptive, panic-relevant stimulus in fear research.
authors.affiliation: Research Group Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. meike.pappens@ppw.kuleuven.be
authors.forename: Meike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pappens
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Peuter
authors.forename: Debora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vansteenwegen
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Van den Bergh
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Van Diest
mesh_terms: D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000523:psychology*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D012119:Respiration / Q000187:drug effects; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide