F140. The Effects of Cortisol Administration on Emotion, Stress Reactivity, and Brain Activity in Depression

Abstract

Circulating cortisol levels rise when people experience physical and psychological stressors. Cortisol is also elevated and dysregulated in individuals experiencing symptoms of depression. It is widely assumed that cortisol plays a role in generating the subjective feeling of emotions that accompany both stress and depression. It is also possible that cortisol is elevated in stress and depression to coordinate physiological processes that are unrelated to subjective feelings. The assumptions that cortisol promotes feelings of stress and symptoms of depression have rarely been formally tested. This series of studies aims to test how cortisol administration influences the subjective experience of emotion and the neural correlates of emotion in healthy individuals and medication-free individuals experiencing symptoms of depression.