The effects of an acute psychological stressor on cardiovascular, endocrine, and cellular immune response: A prospective study of individuals high and low in heart rate reactivity
PsychophysiologyPublished 1 May 1994
Sandra Sgoutas-Emch, John T. Cacioppo, Bert N. Uchino, William B. Malarkey, Dennis K. Pearl, Janice K. Kiecolt‐Glaser
Citations164
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.26
SNIP1.22
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
TL;DR
The results suggest that the interactions among the autonomic nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system are not only amenable to psychophysiological analysis but that such analyses may play an important role in illuminating underlying mechanisms.
Abstract
High and low reactors were preselected on the basis of their heart rate reactivity to a speech stressor in a prescreening session. In the main study, subjects were exposed to a mental arithmetic plus noise stressor. Cardiovascular activity was recorded during baseline and stressor, and blood was drawn prior to and following the stressor for endocrine and immune assays. Results revealed that the stressor decreased the blastogenic response to concanavalin A and increased natural killer cell numbers and cytotoxicity, absolute numbers of CD8+ T-lymphocytes, norepinephrine and epinephrine levels, heart rate, and blood pressure responses. In addition, cortisol and natural killer cell cytotoxicity responses to the stressor differentiated individuals high versus low in heart rate reactivity. These results suggest that the interactions among the autonomic nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system are not only amenable to psychophysiological analysis but that such analyses may play an important role in illuminating underlying mechanisms.
Keywords
MedicineNeuroscience
Psychosomatic MedicineSpousal caregivers of dementia victims: longitudinal changes in immunity and health.
1,001 Citations1991Janice K. Kiecolt‐Glaser, Jason R. Dura +3 more
Caregivers who reported lower levels of social support at intake and who were most distressed by dementia‐related behaviors showed the greatest and most uniformly negative changes in immune function at follow‐up.
Principles of psychophysiology : physical, social, and inferential elements
786 Citations1990John T. Cacioppo, Louis G. Tassinary
The analysis of periodic processes in psychophysiological research S. Stern, K. Stern and C. Stern uncoated physiological and psychological constructs from physiological data to psychological constructs and found patterns in response patterning led to new ideas about psychophysiology and psychology.
Psychosomatic MedicineMarital quality, marital disruption, and immune function.
666 Citations1987Janice K. Kiecolt‐Glaser, Lloyd D. Fisher +4 more
Among married subjects, poorer marital quality was associated with greater depression and a poorer response on three qualitative measures of immune function, and women who had been separated 1 year or less had significantly poorer qualitative and quantitative immune function than their sociodemographically matched married counterparts.
JAMASuppression of Lymphocyte Stimulation Following Bereavement
626 Citations1983Steven J. Schleifer
In a prospective study of 15 spouses of women with advanced breast carcinoma, lymphocyte stimulation responses to phytohemagglutinin, concanavalin A, and pokeweed mitogen were significantly suppressed during the first two months following the death of a spouse compared with prebereavement levels.
Annals of Internal MedicineThe Stress Response and the Regulation of Inflammatory Disease
476 Citations1992Esther M. Sternberg, George P. Chrousos +2 more
These concepts suggest that neuropharmacologic agents that stimulate hypothalamic CRH might potentially be adjunctive therapy for illnesses traditionally viewed as inflammatory or autoimmune.
PsychophysiologyHemodynamics of Blood Pressure Responses During Active and Passive Coping
418 Citations1990Andrew Sherwood, Carol A. Dolan +1 more
This laboratory study was designed to address a number of interrelated issues regarding cardiovascular reactivity to psychological stress, and indicated that the hemodynamic basis of reactivity is an individual characteristic only partially modified by coping demands.
Psychophysiology<i>For Distinguished Early Career Contribution to Psychophysiology: Award Address, 1988</i>
397 Citations1990Ulf Dimberg
Data from the laboratory are reviewed to indicate that facial muscle activity is a general component of the emotional reaction and demonstrate that the facial EMG technique is a sensitive tool for measuring emotional reactions.
PubMedChanges of immunoregulatory cells induced by psychological and physical stress: relationship to plasma catecholamines.
299 Citations1984Régine Landmann, Franco Müller +4 more
The predominant enrichment of circulating B, Ts and NK cells during short lasting adrenergic activation, as well as the relationship of the T cell changes to plasma adrenaline, suggest an immunoregulatory effect of the sympathetic nervous system in stress.
Psychosomatic MedicineImmunological changes in young and old adults during brief laboratory stress.
262 Citations1991Bruce D. Naliboff, Donna Benton +6 more
It is demonstrated that brief psychological stress is associated with some rapid immune cell changes, including release of CD8 suppressor/cytotoxic T cells and NK cells into circulation, and in young subjects, increases in NK activity.
PsychophysiologyPremenopausal and Postmenopausal Women Differ in their Cardiovascular and Neuroendocrine Responses to Behavioral Stressors
242 Citations1989Patrice G. Saab, Karen A. Matthews +2 more
Behavioral NeuroscienceStress depresses interferon production by leukocytes concomitant with a decrease in natural killer cell activity.
241 Citations1986Ronald Glaser, John Rice
PsychophysiologyReliable Measures of Behaviorally‐Evoked Cardiovascular Reactivity from a PC‐Based Test Battery: Results from Student and Community Samples
237 Citations1992Thomas W. Kamarck, J. Richard Jennings +5 more
Psychological ScienceIndividual Differences in Cellular Immune Response to Stress
229 Citations1991Stephen B. Manuck, Sheldon Cohen +3 more
Effects of acute mental stress on lymphocyte subpopulations and T-lymphocyte mitogenesis were examined experimentally in healthy young adults to suggest differences parallel (and may be predicted by) interindividual variability in stress-induced sympathetic nervous system activation.
PsychophysiologyIndividual Differences in Behaviorally Evoked Cardiovascular Response: Temporal Stability and Hemodynamic Patterning
205 Citations1990Alfred L. Kasprowicz, Stephen B. Manuck +2 more
This typology of hemodynamic response was corroborated by corresponding group differences in heart rate, pre-ejection period, and stroke index; was reproducible on retesting; and showed some generalization to the mirror tracing task, though not to bicycle exercise.
The Journal of ImmunologyDecrease in mitogen responsiveness of mononuclear cells from peripheral blood after epinephrine administration in humans.
153 Citations1983B Crary, Myrin Borysenko +4 more
Data suggest that the reduction in mitogen responsiveness after epinephrine is the result of changes in the distribution of lymphocyte subclasses in peripheral blood.
Psychosomatic MedicineEffects of experimental psychological stress on distribution and function of peripheral blood cells.
138 Citations1992J. F. Brosschot, Robert J. Benschop +5 more
The results conclude that the effects of a short lasting mild psychological stressor are mainly restricted to cells of the NK cell population.
Psychosomatic MedicineShort-term immunological effects of induced emotion.
136 Citations1992Peter H. Knapp, Elinor M. Levy +4 more
Results suggest that immunologic processes are sensitive to influence by arousal of emotion, and group effects confirm group effects in NEG and POS emotional experiences.
Psychosomatic MedicineLymphocyte subset and cellular immune responses to a brief experimental stressor.
133 Citations1992Elizabeth A. Bachen, Stephen B. Manuck +5 more
Effects of acute mental stress on aspects of cellular immunity, lymphocyte populations and phytohemagglutinin‐stimulated T‐cell mitogenesis were measured in 33 healthy young men, both before and immediately following subjects' performance of a frustrating, 21‐minute laboratory task.
Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyAge-related changes in cardiovascular response as a function of a chronic stressor and social support.
126 Citations1992Bert N. Uchino, Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser +1 more
It is suggested that social support can moderate age-related changes in cardiovascular functioning, particularly in Ss exposed to a chronic stressor.
Psychosomatic MedicineHeart rate reactivity as a predictor of neuroendocrine responses to aversive and appetitive challenges.
95 Citations1990William R. Lovallo, G A Pincomb +2 more
The results support psychoendocrine models which view the norepinephrine response as being nonspecifically related to expenditure of effort regardless of the emotional connotations of the challenge, while cortisol is seen as being secreted primarily during periods of distress.
Brain Behavior and ImmunityDifferential effects of controllable and uncontrollable acute stress on lymphocyte proliferation and leukocyte percentages in humans
87 Citations1990Carol S. Weisse, Carlos N. Pato +5 more
It is suggested that acute stress can alter aspects of immune function in humans and the importance of stressor controllability in moderating stress effects on human immunity is underscored.
Health PsychologyStress, reactivity, and immune function in healthy men.
85 Citations1992Sandra G. Zakowski, Cathy G. McAllister +2 more
Lymphocyte proliferation to the mitogen concanavalin A (Con A) was decreased during and after exposure to the stressor when compared to the control group, and this decrease was more pronounced in subjects exhibiting greater blood pressure reactivity while viewing the film than in subjects showing smaller blood pressure responses.
PsychophysiologyFor Distinguished Early Career Contribution to Psychophysiology: Award Address, 1988
52 Citations1989J. Rick Turner
Preliminary evidence found suggesting that in-laboratory responses to mental arithmetic and video game tasks are indicative of responses to more naturalistic stressors is found, and the relationship between laboratory and real-world reactions was investigated.
Psychosomatic MedicineDo plasma norepinephrine levels reflect behavioral stress?
44 Citations1987J E Dimsdale, Danielle A. Young +2 more
Plasma NE levels were obtained through continuous blood withdrawal from an antecubital vein, and simultaneous blood pressures were monitored, implying that the increased peripheral NE level was not merely a local phenomenon but reflected a signal affecting the entire vascular system.
NeuropsychobiologyIn vivo and in vitro Effects of Glucocorticoids on Lymphocyte Proliferation in Man: Relationship to Glucocorticoid Receptors
28 Citations2008Rainer Rupprecht, Norbert Wodarz +6 more
Data suggest that the inhibition of spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation by glucocorticoids in vitro is related to glucocORTicoid receptor function, and the decrease in PWM-generated B-cell proliferation following cortisol depletion by MET may be seen in connection with impaired glucoc Corticoid-mediated induction of interleukin-1 receptor synthesis.
Stress MedicineAcute catecholaminergic responses to mental and physical stressors in man
18 Citations1992Marvin A. Oleshansky, James L. Meyerhoff
It is demonstrated that a stressful interview is associated with increases in both NE and EPI levels which are qualitatively similar to the responses to a physical stressor.
Journal of Neuro-OncologySensitivity of glioma and fetal brain cell lines to natural killer cytolysis in a monolayer assay
13 Citations1989Rene Myers Kazimer, Ronald L. Whisler +3 more