title: Stress reactivity speeds basic encoding processes in infants.
abstract: Acute stress attenuates frontal lobe functioning and increases distractibility while enhancing subcortical processes in both human and nonhuman animals (reviewed by Arnsten [2009] Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6):410-422). To date however these relations have not been examined for their potential effects in developing populations. Here, we examined the relationship between stress reactivity (infants' heart rate response to watching videos of another child crying) and infant performance on measures of looking duration and visual recognition memory. Our findings indicate that infants with increased stress reactivity showed shorter look durations and more novelty preference. Thus, stress appears to lead to a faster, more stimulus-ready attentional profile in infants. Additional work is required to assess potential negative consequences of stimulus-responsivity, such as decreased focus or distractibility. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 58: 546-555, 2016.
authors.affiliation: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. kaya@cc.gatech.edu.|Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK. kaya@cc.gatech.edu.
authors.forename: Kaya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: de Barbaro
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Kaili
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Clackson
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wass
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: attention; human infant; locus coruleous; physiology; recognition memory; stress; stress reactivity