title: Exposure to acute stress enhances decision-making competence: Evidence for the role of DHEA.
abstract: Exposure to acute stress can impact performance on numerous cognitive abilities, but little is known about how acute stress affects real-world decision-making ability. In the present study, we induced acute stress with a standard laboratory task involving uncontrollable socio-evaluative stress and subsequently assessed decision-making ability using the Adult Decision Making Competence index. In addition, we took baseline and post-test saliva samples from participants to examine associations between decision-making competence and adrenal hormones. Participants in the stress induction group showed enhanced decision-making competence, relative to controls. Further, although both cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) reactivity predicted decision-making competence when considered in isolation, DHEA was a significantly better predictor than cortisol when both hormones were considered simultaneously. Thus, our results show that exposure to acute stress can have beneficial effects on the cognitive ability underpinning real-world decision-making and that this effect relates to DHEA reactivity more than cortisol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, United States. Electronic address: gsshields@ucdavis.edu.
authors.forename: Grant S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Shields
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, United States.
authors.forename: Jovian C W
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, United States.
authors.forename: Brian C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Trainor
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, United States.
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Yonelinas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D003657:Decision Making; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Acute stress; Cortisol; DHEA; Decision-making; Decision-making competence; Stress