Jesús Gómez-Amor

Gender differences in cardiovascular and electrodermal responses to public speaking task: the role of anxiety and mood states

Gender moderates psychophysiological responses to stress. In addition to the hormonal background, different psychological states related to social stressors, such as anxiety and mood, could affect this response. The purpose of this study was to examine the existence of gender differences in the cardiovascular and electrodermal responses to a speech task and their relationship with anxiety and the mood variations experienced. For this, non-specific skin conductance responses (NSRs), heart rate (HR), and finger pulse volume (FPV) were measured at rest, and during preparation, task and recovery periods of an academic career speech in undergraduate men (n=15) and women (n=23), with assessment of changes in the state version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) and in the Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaires. Men and women did not differ in trait anxiety, hostility/aggressiveness, or in the appraisal of the task, which were evaluated with the trait version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T), the Buss and Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI), and a self-report elaborated by ourselves, respectively. Women had higher FPV in all periods except during the task, and were more reactive to the stressor in state anxiety, and in the amplitude of NSRs. No gender differences for HR and for the frequency of NSRs were found. Anxiety and mood states were differently related to cardiovascular and electrodermal measurements in men and women. Further studies should consider the hormonal variations in addition to the psychological dimensions, in order to offer a more integrative perspective of the complex responses to stress.

Anticipatory autonomic response to a public speaking task in women: The role of trait anxiety

The aim of this research was to study anticipatory autonomic responses their relationship to trait anxiety. Twenty-three women prepared an evaluated speech (S-condition) and 22 women an evaluated essay (W-condition). Heart rate (HR), finger pulse volume (FPV) and skin conductance were recorded before, during and after preparation of the task and during task performance; state-anxiety was evaluated before and after the task. In the total sample, state-anxiety was higher in the S- than in W-condition and this anxiety increase was accompanied by FPV reductions. However, when the sample was split according to trait anxiety scores, HR during preparation and increases of state-anxiety were greater in S- than W-condition in only in high-anxious women. Results suggest that specificity of anticipatory HR response to a public speaking task in women is moderated by cognitive anxiety.

Salivary alpha-amylase response to acute psychosocial stress: The impact of age

The impact of stress on health varies across the different stages of human life. Aging is associated with psychobiological changes that could limit our ability to cope with stressors. Therefore, it is crucial to clarify the physiological mechanisms that underlie the stress response and the changes that occur in them as we age. Our aim was to investigate age differences in the salivary alpha amylase (sAA) response to stress, and its relationship with other typical stress biomarkers such as cortisol and heart rate (HR). Sixty-two participants divided into two age groups (younger group: N=31, age range: 18-35 years; older group: N=31, age range: 54-71 years) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test and a control condition in a crossover design. No age differences were found in the sAA or HR responses to stress. However, the sAA global output was higher in older than younger adults. Additionally, in the stress condition, the total amount of cortisol released was positively related to the total sAA released, while the HR increase was positively related to the sAA increase. Our results do not support the existence of an attenuated autonomic nervous system response to stress in older adults, but rather a heightened sympathetic tone. Furthermore, we found further evidence of the coordination between the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal system and the autonomic nervous system in their response to acute psychosocial stress.

The impact of cortisol reactivity to acute stress on memory: Sex differences in middle-aged people

Stress has been identified as a main factor involved in the cognitive changes that occur during the aging process. This study investigated sex differences in the relationship between the magnitude of the acute stress-induced salivary cortisol response and memory performance among middle-aged people. To this end, 16 men and 16 women (aged 54–72 years) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test and a control condition in a crossover design. Afterwards their memory performance was measured using a standardized memory test (Reys Auditory Verbal Learning Test). Only among women, there was an acute impact of stress on memory performance and a significant relationship between a higher cortisol response to the stressor and poorer memory performance in both the stress and control conditions. Additionally, a poorer memory performance was related to earlier timing of sexual maturation (age at menarche), which was also marginally related to higher cortisol reactivity to stress. These results confirm that sex is a critical factor in the relationship between cortisol and poor memory performance. Furthermore, the findings emphasize a strong link between the individual cortisol response to stress and memory functioning among postmenopausal women.

Acute pre-learning stress and declarative memory: impact of sex, cortisol response and menstrual cycle phase

This study explores the influence of pre-learning stress on performance on declarative memory tasks in healthy young adults in relation to sex and menstrual cycle phase. The sample was composed of 119 students (32 men and 87 women) from 18 to 25 years of age. The women were tested in different hormonal stages (30 in follicular phase, 34 in luteal phase, and 23 using oral contraceptives). The participants were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) or a control condition. Afterwards, their memory performance was measured using a standardized memory test (Reys Auditory Verbal Learning Test). In the control condition, all groups of women recalled more words than men, but these differences disappeared in the group exposed to TSST because mens performance on the memory test improved, but only to the level of women. In addition, our data suggest that in women the relationship between cortisol and memory can be modulated by sex hormone levels, since in luteal women a negative relationship was found between memory performance and peak cortisol level. These results confirm that sex differences need to be considered in the relationship between pre-learning stress and memory performance.

Enhancing effects of acute psychosocial stress on priming of non-declarative memory in healthy young adults

Social stress affects cognitive processes in general, and memory performance in particular. However, the direction of these effects has not been clearly established, as it depends on several factors. Our aim was to determine the impact of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reactivity to psychosocial stress on short-term non-declarative memory and declarative memory performance. Fifty-two young participants (18 men, 34 women) were subjected to the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) and a control condition in a crossover design. Implicit memory was assessed by a priming test, and explicit memory was assessed by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). The TSST provoked greater salivary cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) responses than the control task. Men had a higher cortisol response to stress than women, but no sex differences were found for sAA release. Stress was associated with an enhancement of priming but did not affect declarative memory. Additionally, the enhancement on the priming test was higher in those whose sAA levels increased more in response to stress (r48 = 0.339, p = 0.018). Our results confirm an effect of acute stress on priming, and that this effect is related to SNS activity. In addition, they suggest a different relationship between stress biomarkers and the different memory systems.

An initiative in Spain for the study of women's health: the Murcia Twin Registry.

The present article describes the initial steps taken in setting up a twin registry in Spain. The Murcia Twin Registry (MTR) will focus initially on perimenopausal womens health. It will be administered and managed by the University of Murcia and the Murcia Health Council and will start with a database of 452 pairs of female twins born between 1940 and 1965 in the region of Murcia, Spain. Once the MTR is established and has gained some experience, our goal is to expand the age range and include males and opposite-sex twins. The current main areas of research interest are menopause, preventive behaviors, lifestyle and health as well as quality of life.

Sex differences and the asymmetry of specific and non-specific electrodermal responses

Phasic electrodermal conductance responses were bilaterally recorded from 30 subjects (15 males and 15 females). After a 5-min adaptation period subjects were presented with two series of ten 80-dB tones each, with a 4-min rest period between the two series. Data from sinistrals, ambidextrous, and from subjects with familial sinistrality were excluded from statistical analysis. Males displayed more asymmetry between hands both in their non-specific and specific responses, with larger skin conductance responses on the left hand. Females showed a less marked asymmetry, with larger skin conductance responses on the right hand. Similar results were found in skin conductance levels. It was concluded that sex differences are an important variable in the study of electrodermal asymmetry.

Acute stress affects free recall and recognition of pictures differently depending on age and sex.

Little is known about age differences in the effects of stress on memory retrieval. Our aim was to perform an in-depth examination of acute psychosocial stress effects on memory retrieval, depending on age and sex. For this purpose, data from 52 older subjects (27 men and 25 women) were reanalyzed along with data from a novel group of 50 young subjects (26 men and 24 women). Participants were exposed to an acute psychosocial stress task (Trier Social Stress Test) or a control task. After the experimental manipulation, the retrieval of positive, negative and neutral pictures learned the previous day was tested. As expected, there was a significant response to the exposure to the stress task, but the older participants had a lower cortisol response to TSST than the younger ones. Stress impaired free recall of emotional (positive and negative) and neutral pictures only in the group of young men. Also in this group, correlation analyses showed a marginally significant association between cortisol and free recall. However, exploratory analyses revealed only a negative relationship between the stress-induced cortisol response and free recall of negative pictures. Moreover, stress impaired recognition memory of positive pictures in all participants, although this effect was not related to the cortisol or alpha-amylase response. These results indicate that both age and sex are critical factors in acute stress effects on specific aspects of long-term memory retrieval of emotional and neutral material. They also point out that more research is needed to better understand their specific role.

Electrodermal activity, hormonal levels and subjective experience during the menstrual cycle☆

Changes in electrodermal activity and subjective experience were studied during the menstrual cycle. Sixty-two women, grouped into menstrual, follicular, ovulatory, luteal and premenstrual phases, were presented with 15, 4-s, 80-dB, 1000-Hz tones. Psychological states and psychosomatic symptoms were tested with Spielbergers State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and a self-report questionnaire. Two estimation procedures of the hormonal phases were used: one based on the onset of menses and cycle length, and another on the basal body temperature. Subjects were grouped into low or high levels of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and progesterone. There were significant increases in nonspecific response frequency, skin conductance response magnitude, skin conductance level, and a decrease in habituation rate at the ovulatory phase in comparison with luteal and premenstrual phases. No changes between the cycle phases were found in subjective experience. High follicle-stimulating hormone levels were associated with slower habituation rates and low trait-anxiety. The relationship between arousal changes and subjective experience in menstrual cycle is discussed.