Background
Stress is an important factor in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders.
Stress also potentiates anxiety-like response in animals, but empirical evidence for
a similar effect in humans is still lacking.
Methods
To test whether stress increases anxiety in humans, we examined the ability of a social
stressor (speech and a counting task) to potentiate the facilitation of startle in
the dark. Measures of subjective distress and of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis
and autonomic nervous system activity (e.g., salivary cortisol, α-amylase, blood pressure,
and heart rate) were also taken to confirm the effectiveness of the stress manipulation.
Results
Startle was significantly facilitated in the dark. This effect was potentiated by
prior exposure to the social stressor. The social stressor induced increases in salivary
cortisol and α amylase as well as increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and subjective
distress.
Conclusion
The findings indicate that stress potentiates anxiety. Animal studies suggest that
such an effect might be mediated by glucocorticoid effects on corticotropin-releasing
hormone in limbic structures.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 15, 2007
Accepted:
June 7,
2007
Received in revised form:
June 4,
2007
Received:
March 20,
2007
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
