Prolonged Effects of Acute Stress on Decision-Making under Risk: A Human Psychophysiological Study

This study investigates the prolonged effects of physiological responses induced by acute stress on risk-taking in decision-making. Participants were divided into a Stress group (N = 14) and a Control group (N = 12). The Trier Social Stress Test was administered as an acute stressor, and reading was...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in human neuroscience 2016-09, Vol.10, p.444-444
Main Authors: Yamakawa, Kaori, Ohira, Hideki, Matsunaga, Masahiro, Isowa, Tokiko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
acute stress
Altruism
Bias
Cortisol
Cytokines
Decision making
Epinephrine
Feedback
Glucocorticoids
Heart rate
Hormones
Memory
Mental task performance
Neuroscience
Physiology
reflection effect
risk
Social interactions
Studies
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Summary:This study investigates the prolonged effects of physiological responses induced by acute stress on risk-taking in decision-making. Participants were divided into a Stress group (N = 14) and a Control group (N = 12). The Trier Social Stress Test was administered as an acute stressor, and reading was administered as a control task; thereafter, participants performed a decision-making task in which they needed to choose a sure option or a gamble option in Gain and Loss frame trials 2 h after (non-) exposure to the stressor. Increased cortisol, adrenaline, heart rate (HR), and subjective stress levels validated acute stress manipulation. Stressed participants made fewer risky choices only in the Gain domain, whereas no effect of stress was shown in the Loss domain. Deceleration of HR reflecting attention was greater for Gains compared with Losses only in the Stress group. Risk avoidance was determined by increased levels of cortisol caused by acute stress. These results suggest that processes regarding glucocorticoid might be involved in the prolonged effects of acute stress on the evaluation of risks and the monitoring of outcomes in decision-making.
ISSN:1662-5161
1662-5161
DOI:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00444