title: Computations of uncertainty mediate acute stress responses in humans.
abstract: The effects of stress are frequently studied, yet its proximal causes remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that subjective estimates of uncertainty predict the dynamics of subjective and physiological stress responses. Subjects learned a probabilistic mapping between visual stimuli and electric shocks. Salivary cortisol confirmed that our stressor elicited changes in endocrine activity. Using a hierarchical Bayesian learning model, we quantified the relationship between the different forms of subjective task uncertainty and acute stress responses. Subjective stress, pupil diameter and skin conductance all tracked the evolution of irreducible uncertainty. We observed a coupling between emotional and somatic state, with subjective and physiological tuning to uncertainty tightly correlated. Furthermore, the uncertainty tuning of subjective and physiological stress predicted individual task performance, consistent with an adaptive role for stress in learning under uncertain threat. Our finding that stress responses are tuned to environmental uncertainty provides new insight into their generation and likely adaptive function.
authors.affiliation: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.|Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
authors.forename: Archy O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: de Berker
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.|Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK.
authors.forename: Robb B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Rutledge
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.|Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mathys
authors.affiliation: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.affiliation: Clinical Biochemistry, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill SE5 9RS, UK.
authors.forename: Gemma F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Cross
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.|Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK.
authors.forename: Raymond J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Dolan
authors.affiliation: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bestmann
mesh_terms: D001499:Bayes Theorem; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008954:Models, Biological; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D035501:Uncertainty