Increase In Skin Conductance Level Research Articles

Do emotions evoked by music modulate visuospatial working memory capacity? A physiological study

Previous studies have shown that emotions evoked through music can have transient effects on cognitive performance. Considering the importance of working memory (WM) in the processing of new information, in this study, we investigated the impact of positive and negative emotions evoked through music on visuospatial WM performance using a within-subjects design. Moreover, we concomitantly recorded the participants’ physiological responses during listening to musical stimuli. Seventy-eight participants were allocated to counterbalanced positive, negative, and neutral emotional inductions through music (EIM) followed by an adaptive visuospatial WM task. Results revealed that participants’ visuospatial WM performance was increased after positive EIM compared with negative and neutral EIMs transiently. We also observed increased skin conductance levels during positive EIM compared with baseline and a lower heart rate throughout positive EIM than the other conditions. Overall, these findings suggest that music evoking positive emotions can boost visuospatial WM performance. This is the first study to explore cognitive performance after EIM and physiological responses to musical stimuli simultaneously, which may have important practical implications since we engage in cognitively demanding activities after listening to music that could evoke happy or sad emotions.

Guided reactivation of personal phobic memories prior to exposure exercises prevents the renewal of fear responses in subjects with claustrophobic fears

Background and objectivesBasic research suggest behavioral strategies for interferencing the reconsolidation of fear memories to be a promising approach in reducing clinical fears. However, first clinical studies revealed mixed results highlighting the need to identify boundary conditions. We experimentally tested the specific hypothesis that post-retrieval threat exposure prevents context renewal usually observed in protocols without fear memory reactivation. MethodsIn a preliminary investigation forty-three individuals with claustrophobic fears reactivated the individual phobic memory or not during a guided emotional imagery task and then performed standardized threat exposure to provide new information for updating the original memory. During retests seven and 28 days later, the context was different from that during treatment in half of the subjects. ResultsIn those who were guided, the fear memory was successfully reactivated as indexed by increased skin conductance level (SCL) during the imagery of personal scenes relative to neutral scenes. During retests the subjects of the memory non-activation group showed a return of reported fear after context change that, however, was not observed after post-retrieval exposure. In line, autonomic arousal (SCL) decreased over time in the memory reactivation group only if the context changed during retest. LimitationsLimited sample size and the inclusion of an analog sample reduce the generalizability of the results. ConclusionsThe reactivation of fear memory prior to treatment through guided imagery of past personal phobic situations prevented contextual renewal of phobic fears which was observed in those subjects without reactivation of memory.

Different psychophysiological responses induced by a stimulus change during the orienting task and the Concealed Information Test

The orienting response (OR) account of the Concealed Information Test (CIT) posits that physiological responses to CIT items are components of the OR. Physiological variations within a stimulus sequence were investigated in an OR task (Study 1) and the CIT (Study 2). In Study 1, an unexpected increase in tone intensity was introduced after repeated standard tone presentations. The deviant tone elicited a large skin conductance response (SCR), heightened vascular tone, and self-reported surprise and also increased skin conductance level, self-reported arousal, and sustained vascular tone thereafter. In Study 2, the deviant relevant item presentation elicited a larger SCR and greater surprise compared with the frequent irrelevant item presentation, whereas vascular tone and self-reported arousal dropped after presentation of the relevant item. These results indicate that although phasic responses to a deviant stimulus were similar in both tasks, tonic variations following the stimulus change differed. Possible implications are discussed.

Disorganized attachment in adolescence: Emotional and physiological dysregulation during the Friends and Family Interview and a conflict interaction.

The current study examined the effects of attachment on autonomy, relatedness, and emotion regulation during an attachment interview (Friends and Family Interview; FFI) and a Parent×Child Conflict interaction (Family Interaction Task; FIT) in 49 adolescents (11 to 17 years old). Disorganized adolescents displayed behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness less frequently and at a lower extent than organized ones in the FIT with mothers but not with fathers. Disorganized adolescents also showed a steeper decrease in heart rate variability (HRV) than organized ones, during both the FFI and the FITs. Moreover, disorganized adolescents responded with a more marked increase in skin conductance level to the FIT with mothers than organized individuals. Dismissing adolescents showed behaviors promoting autonomy and relatedness less frequently and to a lesser extent than secure ones, while displaying more often behaviors undermining autonomy and relatedness in the FITs. Dismissing adolescents also showed a more pronounced decrease in HRV during the FFI than secure and preoccupied individuals; no differences were found between these groups in HRV during the FITs. The results suggest that disorganized adolescents had more difficulties in regulating their emotions during both the FFI and the FITs, whereas dismissing individuals seemed effectively challenged only during the interview.

An eye-tracking approach to Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR): The physiology and nature of tingles in relation to the pupil.

Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a sensory phenomenon commonly characterized by pleasant tingling sensations arising from the back of the head and accompanied by feelings of relaxation and calmness. Although research has found ASMR to have a distinct physiological pattern with increased skin conductance levels and reduced heart rate, the specific tingles felt in ASMR have not received much investigation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the physiology and characteristics of ASMR further by examining whether experiencing ASMR is visible from the pupil of the eye. A total of 91 participants were recruited and assigned to three different groups based on their experience of ASMR (ASMR vs. non-ASMR vs. unsure). Participants were instructed to watch a control video and an ASMR video and to report any tingling sensations by pressing down a button on the keyboard. Pupil diameter was measured over the duration of both videos using a tower-mounted eye tracker. Data was analyzed on a general level, averaging pupil diameter over each video, as well as on a more specific level, comparing pupil diameter during reported episodes of tingling sensations to pupil diameter outside of those episodes. On the general level, results revealed no significant differences between the groups. On the specific level, however, the tingling sensations experienced in ASMR were found to cause statistically significant increases in pupil diameter, demonstrating that they have a physiological basis. The results of the study further reinforce the credibility of ASMR and suggest that the tingles felt in ASMR are at the very core of the experience itself.

The relationship between pain-induced autonomic arousal and perceived duration.

Emotional distortions of the perceived duration of events are often explained in terms of increases and decreases in arousal. While this explanation is theoretically plausible, there is a lack of evidence for a direct relationship between physiological arousal and perceived duration. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether physiological arousal, defined by autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity is directly related to perceived duration. In two experiments we measured skin conductance level (SCL) and high frequency heart rate variability (HF HRV) during verbal estimation tasks. In Experiment 1, participants estimated the duration of electro-cutaneous stimuli previously rated as inducing no pain, low pain and high pain. High intensity stimuli were perceived as lasting for longer than low intensity stimuli, and these changes in duration estimation were associated with changes in ANS activity. In Experiment 2, participants estimated the duration of a neutral visual stimulus while experiencing different intensities of background thermal pain (no pain, low pain, and high pain), to determine whether task-irrelevant arousal also affects time perception. Duration estimations for the neutral stimulus did not increase with pain intensity despite significant increases in SCL. Furthermore, there was no association between ANS activity and time estimation in Experiment 2. These findings suggest that the relationship between physiological arousal and time perception is more complex than previously described. While physiological arousal can influence the perceived duration of events, it appears to have a greater capacity to do so when the to-be-timed stimulus is itself the source of arousal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Users’ psychophysiological, vocal, and self-reported responses to the apparent attitude of a virtual audience in stereoscopic 360°-video

This research analyzes the psychological reactions of participants to the neutral, positive, or negative attitudes of a virtual audience recorded in 360°-video. Participants were asked to deliver three speeches, each accompanied by a different type of reaction from the virtual audience. Measures of user state included questionnaires, psychophysiological measures, and voice recordings. The results showed that, compared to the neutral audience, the negative audience elicited increases in skin conductance level and heart rate variability, decreases in voice intensity, and a higher ratio of silent parts in the speech, as well as a more negative self-reported valence, higher anxiety, and lower social presence. These findings evidence that, even if some attributes that are considered to be central to immersive experiences are lacking, (i.e., interactivity or avatar representation of the user), 360°-video recreations of virtual environments lead to realistic reactions on users. These results support the effectiveness of 360°-video virtual audiences for public speaking training and social anxiety treatment.

Nocebo hyperalgesia induced by implicit conditioning

Nocebo hyperalgesia (i.e., increased pain sensitivity based on expectations) can be induced by conditioning, but is supposed to be mediated by conscious expectation. Although recent evidence points to the feasibility of subliminal conditioning of nocebo hyperalgesia with masked faces, face processing might be a special case and the practical implications of subliminal conditioning remain questionable. This study aimed to implicitly condition nocebo hyperalgesia using supraliminal cues. Implicit differential nocebo conditioning (N=48 healthy participants) was implemented by coupling high and low painful electric stimuli to varying visual stimuli that only differed in the symmetry/asymmetry of one component (CS+/CS-) and contained further distracting components. In the test phase, only the low painful stimulus followed both CS to test for conditioned nocebo effects in intensity and aversiveness ratings and electrodermal activity. A behavioral contingency test and a post-experimental questionnaire assessed contingency awareness. A conditioned effect emerged in the aversiveness (p = .036; η2 = 0.09), but not in the intensity rating (p=.195) while controlling for contingency awareness. Further, increased skin conductance levels in response to CS+emerged, irrespective of contingency awareness (p = .014, η2 = 0.13). No conditioned responses in skin conductance responses emerged (p = .872). Expected effects only emerged in part of the outcome variables. The results support the notion that implicit conditioning of nocebo hypoalgesia is feasible using a novel experimental conditioning design with supraliminal stimulus presentation, although further research is needed. So far, implicitly conditioned nocebo effects might have been underestimated despite vast clinical implications.

Abnormal psychophysiological responses to emotional stimuli in dementia

Event Abstract Back to Event Abnormal psychophysiological responses to emotional stimuli in dementia Fiona Kumfor1, 2*, Jessica L. Hazelton1, Jacqueline A. Rushby3, John R. Hodges2, 4 and Olivier Piguet1, 2 1 University of Sydney, School of Psychology & Brain and Mind Sciences, Australia 2 Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders (ARC), Australia 3 University of New South Wales, School of Psychology, Australia 4 University of Sydney, Sydney Medical School and Brain and Mind Sciences, Australia AIMS: Early theories of emotion processing propose that autonomic processing and cognitive appraisal of emotions are closely interlinked, with the perception of one’s own emotional state and recognition of emotion in others, occurring secondary to the experience of somatic sensations. Patients with frontotemporal dementia show profound social cognition deficits and atrophy in regions known to be important in autonomic emotional responses (e.g., insula, amygdala, prefrontal cortex). Here, we aimed to investigate whether psychophysiological responding to emotional stimuli is abnormal in frontotemporal dementia syndromes. METHOD: Twenty-three behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) patients, 14 semantic dementia (SD) patients and 22 healthy older controls were recruited. Participants viewed 6 x 2 min video clips which were either emotionally positive, neutral or negative. Surface facial (zygomaticus and corrugator) electromyography (EMG), skin conductance level and pulse were simultaneously recorded using an 8/35 Powerlab Data Acquisition System. RESULTS: Unlike controls, patients with bvFTD did not show differential facial EMG responses according to emotion condition, whereas SD patients showed increased zygomaticus responses to both positive and neutral videos. Controls showed increased skin conductance levels when viewing positive and negative videos, however, both bvFTD and SD groups showed no change in skin conductance level across conditions. Finally, no differences in heart rate were found across groups, despite bvFTD patients showing elevated heart rate at rest. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that psychophysiological responses to emotional stimuli are abnormal in frontotemporal dementia, however, the nature of these differences varies across syndromes. While bvFTD patients show an overall dampening of responses, SD patients appear to show heightened physiological responses which are inconsistent with the emotional content of stimuli. These results identify potential mechanisms for the abnormal social behaviour in bvFTD and SD, and demonstrate that psychophysiological responses are an important mechanism underpinning normal socioemotional functioning. Keywords: Frontotemporal Dementia, emotion, electromyography (EMG), Skin conductance, Heart Rate, Psychophysiology Conference: ASP2017: 27th Annual Meeting for the Australasian Society for Psychophysiology, Parramatta, Australia, 29 Nov - 1 Dec, 2017. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Abstract (General) Citation: Kumfor F, Hazelton JL, Rushby JA, Hodges JR and Piguet O (2019). Abnormal psychophysiological responses to emotional stimuli in dementia. Conference Abstract: ASP2017: 27th Annual Meeting for the Australasian Society for Psychophysiology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2017.224.00029 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 05 Oct 2017; Published Online: 25 Jan 2019. * Correspondence: Dr. Fiona Kumfor, University of Sydney, School of Psychology & Brain and Mind Sciences, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia, fiona.kumfor@sydney.edu.au Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Fiona Kumfor Jessica L Hazelton Jacqueline A Rushby John R Hodges Olivier Piguet Google Fiona Kumfor Jessica L Hazelton Jacqueline A Rushby John R Hodges Olivier Piguet Google Scholar Fiona Kumfor Jessica L Hazelton Jacqueline A Rushby John R Hodges Olivier Piguet PubMed Fiona Kumfor Jessica L Hazelton Jacqueline A Rushby John R Hodges Olivier Piguet Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Emotion Dysregulation of Women with Premenstrual Syndrome.

The aim of the current study was to test whether women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) had difficulties in emotion regulation. In Study 1, we investigated the relationship between the habitual use of emotion-regulation strategies and the severity of PMS (n = 230). The results showed that the severity of PMS was negatively associated with the habitual use of reappraisal, but positively associated with the habitual use of suppression. In Study 2, we first investigated the difference in the spontaneous use of suppression versus reappraisal between women with (n = 42) and without PMS (n = 42) when watching sad film clips. Then we instructed some participants (PMS group = 20, healthy group = 21) to use reappraisal to regulate their emotions induced by a second sad film clip, and the other participants were asked to watch the second film clip freely (PMS group = 22, healthy group = 21). The results showed that there was no significant difference between participants with and without PMS in the self-reported spontaneous use of emotion-regulation strategies. For participants with PMS, increases in spontaneous suppression use were associated with increases in skin conductance level (SCL), while this association was not found among participants without PMS.

Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity During Speech Repetition Tasks: Heart Rate Variability and Skin Conductance.

Cognitive and emotional challenges may elicit a physiological stress response that can include arousal of the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) and withdrawal of the parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for recovery and rest). This article reviews studies that have used measures of electrodermal activity (skin conductance) and heart rate variability (HRV) to index sympathetic and parasympathetic activity during auditory tasks. In addition, the authors present results from a new study with normal-hearing listeners examining the effects of speaking rate on changes in skin conductance and high-frequency HRV (HF-HRV). Sentence repetition accuracy for normal and fast speaking rates was measured in noise using signal to noise ratios that were adjusted to approximate 80% accuracy (+3 dB fast rate; 0 dB normal rate) while monitoring skin conductance and HF-HRV activity. A significant increase in skin conductance level (reflecting sympathetic nervous system arousal) and a decrease in HF-HRV (reflecting parasympathetic nervous system withdrawal) were observed with an increase in speaking rate indicating sensitivity of both measures to increased task demand. Changes in psychophysiological reactivity with increased auditory task demand may reflect differences in listening effort, but other person-related factors such as motivation and stress may also play a role. Further research is needed to understand how psychophysiological activity during listening tasks is influenced by the acoustic characteristics of stimuli, task demands, and by the characteristics and emotional responses of the individual.

The relationship between autism symptoms and arousal level in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder, as measured by electrodermal activity.

Electrodermal activity was examined as a measure of physiological arousal within a naturalistic play context in 2-year-old toddlers ( N = 27) with and without autism spectrum disorder. Toddlers with autism spectrum disorder were found to have greater increases in skin conductance level than their typical peers in response to administered play activities. In the autism spectrum disorder group, a positive relationship was observed between restrictive and repetitive behaviors and skin conductance level increases in response to mechanical toys, whereas the opposite pattern was observed for passive toys. This preliminary study is the first to examine electrodermal activity levels in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder during play-based, naturalistic settings, and it highlights the potential for electrodermal activity as a measure of individual variability within autism spectrum disorder and early development.

REM-Enriched Naps Are Associated with Memory Consolidation for Sad Stories and Enhance Mood-Related Reactivity

Emerging evidence suggests that emotion and affect modulate the relation between sleep and cognition. In the present study, we investigated the role of rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep in mood regulation and memory consolidation for sad stories. In a counterbalanced design, participants (n = 24) listened to either a neutral or a sad story during two sessions, spaced one week apart. After listening to the story, half of the participants had a short (45 min) morning nap. The other half had a long (90 min) morning nap, richer in REM and N2 sleep. Story recall, mood evolution and changes in emotional response to the re-exposure to the story were assessed after the nap. Although recall performance was similar for sad and neutral stories irrespective of nap duration, sleep measures were correlated with recall performance in the sad story condition only. After the long nap, REM sleep density positively correlated with retrieval performance, while re-exposure to the sad story led to diminished mood and increased skin conductance levels. Our results suggest that REM sleep may not only be associated with the consolidation of intrinsically sad material, but also enhances mood reactivity, at least on the short term.

A Scent of Anxiety: Olfactory Context Conditioning and its Influence on Social Cues.

Perception and evaluation of objects are highly dependent on surrounding contexts. Threatening contexts enhance processing of faces. Because odors are assumed to deliver strong contextual information, the present study aimed at demonstrating 1) that odors can constitute threat and safety contexts, and 2) consequently modulate the processing of faces presented in these contexts. Therefore, previously neutral odors were used as contextual stimuli in a context conditioning paradigm, resulting in an olfactory anxiety and a safety context. Then, faces showing angry, neutral, or fearful expressions were presented within both contexts during a test phase to investigate the effects of threat versus safety contexts on face perception. The late positive potential (LPP) from the EEG, skin conductance level, and subjective ratings were recorded. Results reveal successful olfactory context conditioning as reflected in enhanced processing of the anxiety context, indicated by enhanced LPP after conditioning, increased skin conductance level, and marginally respectively increased ratings. Moreover, faces presented within the threat context were rated as more unpleasant and marginally more arousing than faces presented in the safety context. Thus, olfactory stimuli can serve as context in fear conditioning, and a threatening olfactory context seems to enhance processing of stimuli perceived within this context.

Dealing with feeling: Specific emotion regulation skills predict responses to stress in psychosis

Elevated negative affect is an established link between minor stressors and psychotic symptoms. Less clear is why people with psychosis fail to regulate distressing emotions effectively. This study tests whether subjective, psychophysiological and symptomatic responses to stress can be predicted by specific emotion regulation (ER) difficulties. Participants with psychotic disorders (n=35) and healthy controls (n=28) were assessed for ER-skills at baseline. They were then exposed to a noise versus no stressor on different days, during which self-reported stress responses, state paranoia and skin conductance levels (SCL) were assessed. Participants with psychosis showed a stronger increase in self-reported stress and SCL in response to the stressor than healthy controls. Stronger increases in self-reported stress were predicted by a reduced ability to be aware of and tolerate distressing emotions, whereas increases in SCL were predicted by a reduced ability to be aware of, tolerate, accept and modify them. Although paranoid symptoms were not significantly affected by the stressors, individual variation in paranoid responses was also predicted by a reduced ability to be aware of and tolerate emotions. Differences in stress responses in the samples were no longer significant after controlling for ER skills. Thus, interventions that improve ER-skills could reduce stress-sensitivity in psychosis.

Repressors benefit from reappraising a threatening emotional event

Background and Objectives: The malleability of emotion-focused coping was investigated by manipulating the situational context so that dispositional repressors, who typically utilize an avoidant strategy when confronted with a stressor, were led to use reappraisal and then were reexposed to the stressor. Design: A mixed design with one measured between-subjects factor (dispositional repression), two randomized between-subjects factors (performance feedback and coping strategy), and multimodal assessments across phases of the experiment was used. Method: During a face-perception task, participants (170 female and 120 male university students) received bogus performance feedback that was inconsistent with and thus threatening to self-concept. Participants then completed a writing activity encouraging them to perceive a face-perception task as either an invalid (reappraisal) or a valid (control) assessment tool. Afterward, participants continued with the task. Results: A repressive disposition was associated with a defense response (decreased perceived emotion to actors' expressions, increased skin conductance levels, and increased heart rates) during the face-perception task that participants perceived as threatening, but not during reexposure to the event after they had reappraised it as nonthreatening. Conclusions: This research provides a more detailed understanding of the dynamic nature of emotion-focused coping by exploring how the disposition-situation interaction affects self-regulation of emotion.

Olfactory cue reactivity in nicotine-dependent adult smokers.

Cue-elicited reactivity is a significant factor in relapse during smoking quit attempts. Previous research has focused primarily on visual smoking cues, with very limited research examining reactivity to olfactory triggers. Twenty-six adult non-treatment-seeking, nicotine-dependent smokers were exposed to 7 odorants during a cue-reactivity session measuring heart rate, skin conductance, and subjective craving. Cues included 2 cigarette odors (fresh tobacco and cigarette smoke), 2 odors previously identified as smoking-related (freshly mowed grass and coffee), 2 odors previously identified as unrelated to smoking (lavender and burned rubber), and 1 odorless control (propylene glycol). Pairwise comparisons demonstrated that subjective intensity of craving was significantly higher following exposure to the fresh tobacco odor compared with the odorless control (p < .01). A significant main effect for cue type on a physiological measure of arousal was also revealed, with a fresh tobacco odor-elicited significant increase in skin conductance level compared with the odorless control. However, no main effect of cue type on heart rate was found (p = .25). The results of the present study indicate that cigarette odor is an effective olfactory cue that heightens both subjective craving and increases skin conductance in smokers. Future research is needed to evaluate whether avoidance of these odors, or extinction of responses to them, can reduce relapse risk during smoking quit attempts.

Sympathetic Arousal during a Touch-Based Healing Ritual Predicts Increased Well-Being.

Objective. There is mounting evidence that more elaborate treatment rituals trigger larger nonspecific effects. The reasons for this remain unclear. In a pilot field study, we investigated the role of psychophysiological changes during a touch-based healing ritual for improvements in subjective well-being. Methods. Heart rate, respiratory rate, and skin conductance levels (SCL) were continuously assessed in 22 subjects before, during, and after a touch-based healing ritual. Participants rated their expectations and subjective well-being was assessed before and after the ritual by the “Short Questionnaire on Current Disposition”. Results. Subjective well-being increased significantly from before to after the ritual. The analysis of psychophysiological changes revealed a significant increase in respiratory rate from baseline to ritual, while skin conductance, heart rate, and heart rate variability did not change. Increases in SCL as well as decreases in respiratory rate from baseline to ritual were significantly associated with improvements in subjective well-being. Regression analyses showed increases in SCL to be the only significant predictor of improvements in well-being. Conclusion. Higher sympathetic arousal during a touch-based healing ritual predicted improvements in subjective well-being. Results suggest the occurrence of an anticipatory stress response, that is, a state of enhanced sympathetic activity that is known to precede relaxation.

Sleep deprived and sweating it out: the effects of total sleep deprivation on skin conductance reactivity to psychosocial stress.

We examined how sleep deprivation alters physiological responses to psychosocial stress by evaluating changes in skin conductance. Between-subjects design with one group allocated to 24 h of total sleep deprivation and the other to rested wakefulness. The study took place in a research laboratory. Participants were 40 healthy young adults recruited from a university. Sleep deprivation and feedback. Electrodermal activity was monitored while participants completed a difficult perceptual task with false feedback. All participants showed increased skin conductance levels following stress. However, compared to well-rested participants, sleep deprived participants showed higher skin conductance reactivity with increasing stress levels. Our results suggest that sleep deprivation augments allostatic responses to increasing psychosocial stress. Consequentially, we propose sleep loss as a risk factor that can influence the pathogenic effects of stress.

Autonomic arousal during actigraphically estimated waking and sleep in male veterans with PTSD.

Physiological hyperarousal is manifested acutely by increased heart rate, decreased respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and increased skin conductance level and variability. Yet it is uncertain to what extent such activation occurs with the symptomatic hyperarousal of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We compared 56 male veterans with current PTSD to 54 males who never had PTSD. Subjects wore ambulatory devices that recorded electrocardiograms, finger skin conductance, and wrist movement while in their normal environments. Wrist movement was monitored to estimate sleep and waking periods. Heart rate, but not the other variables, was elevated in subjects with PTSD equally during waking and during actigraphic sleep (effect sizes, Cohen's d, ranged from 0.63 to 0.89). The length of the sleep periods and estimated sleep fragmentation did not differ between groups. Group heart rate differences could not be explained by differences in body activity, PTSD hyperarousal symptom scores, depression, physical fitness, or antidepressant use.