Abstract
Recent studies indicated that salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) is useful not only as a surrogate biological marker for sympathetic nervous activity, but also as a non-invasive index of psychological stress. Some psychophysiological studies have revealed significant increases of aAA during acute stress induces by experimental stressors such as the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), which were comparable to other endocrinological indices such as salivary cortisol. However, association between change of sAA and performance of public speech within the TSST remain unclear. Thus, in the present study, we recruited 10 participants (mean age = 20.60, SD = 0.80 yrs) to investigate the associations between transition of sAA and performance of speech. SAA and pulsatile heart rate were measured three times before, and three times after the social stress challenge. SAA was measured with a portable sAA biosensor (Salivary amylase monitor; NIPRO, Japan). The Profile of Mood State (POMS) test and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were administered to participants after the TSST protocol. An ANOVA revealed a significant increase of sAA after the task. However, no significant change of pulsatile heart rate was observed. Neither a correlation between sAA and VAS nor a correlation between POMS and VAS was observed. These results suggest that sAA induced by the TSST would be a reliable biomarker of acute stress. However, associations between sAA response and performance of public speech during the TSST still remain under question to be further explored.
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