title: Cortisol rapidly affects amplitudes of heartbeat-evoked brain potentials--implications for the contribution of stress to an altered perception of physical sensations?
abstract: Little is known about the impact of stress and stress hormones on the processing of visceral-afferent signals. Clinical data suggest that cortisol may lower the threshold for interoceptive stimuli, while a pharmacological administration of cortisol decreases the sensitivity for physical symptoms. To clarify the role of cortisol for the processing of interoceptive signals, we investigated 16 healthy men on two occasions, once during the infusion of 4 mg of cortisol and once during the infusion of a placebo substance. Heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEP; derived from resting EEG and ECG, during open and closed eyes), which are psychophysiological indicators for the cortical processing of cardioceptive signals, were measured over 6-min periods once before, and four times after the infusion (1-7, 11-17, 21-27 and 31-37 min). We found that HEP amplitudes were higher during open than during closed eyes between 1 and 17 min after cortisol infusion. There was no effect of cortisol on heart rate. We conclude that cortisol may rapidly modulate the cortical processing of cardioceptive neural signals. These results may have relevance for the effects of stress on the development and maintenance of psychosomatic symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit INSIDE, Research Group Self-Regulation and Health, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Institute of Psychobiology, Division of Clinical Psychophysiology, University of Trier, Germany. Electronic address: andre.schulz@uni.lu.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Strelzyk
authors.forename: Diana S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Ferreira de Sá
authors.forename: Ewald
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Naumann
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vögele
authors.forename: Hartmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schächinger
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Cortisol; HPA axis; Heartbeat detection; Heartbeat-evoked potentials; Interoception; Non-genomic mechanism; Stress; Symptom perception; Visceral perception