Hormonal responses to psychological stress in men preparing for skydiving.

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between the hormonal and psychological responses of young men about to engage in a potentially life-threatening event. Subjects were recruited to take their first skydiving jump. The scores on questionnaires designed to assess anxiety were not significantly increased at 0800 h on the morning before the jump by comparison with scores obtained from the same subjects 3-5 days previously. However, a psychological instrument for rating of events indicated significantly increased intensity, and sympathetic nervous system activity, as measured by the salivary amylase response, was increased over self-control values. Salivary cortisol and testosterone levels were significantly lower on the morning of the jump than self-control values and values in control subjects determined at the same time of day. However, plasma LH was not suppressed. The anxiety and stress measures as well as the rating of events rose to high levels just before the jump. With the exception of testosterone, which remained low, serum cortisol, PRL, and GH all increased greatly subsequent to the rise in psychological measures, reached peak values before or shortly after landing, and declined significantly within the next hour. Anxiety and subjective stress scores declined to those of the self-control values within 15 min after landing, but the rating of events scale remained significantly elevated. In summary, reported anxiety associated with a purely psychological stressor was suppressed until within a few hours preceding the event, but was preceded by an increase in sympathetic nervous system activity and suppression of plasma cortisol and salivary testosterone levels. The event itself was associated with a reversal of the cortisol decline; other stress-associated hormones increased, but salivary testosterone remained low.

Salivary alpha-amylase as a measure of endogenous adrenergic activity.

This investigation was designed to evaluate the production rates and concentrations of salivary alpha-amylase as a measure of adrenergic activity under several conditions of stress in human subjects. Saliva and blood samples were simultaneously collected from men at four 15 min intervals both before and after regimens for exercise, a written examination, or a rest period. The regressions of salivary alpha-amylase on plasma norepinephrine (NE) concentrations were significant for both exercise (P < 0.001) and examination (P < 0.01) protocols. Aerobic exercise induced a 3-fold mean increase in alpha-amylase; both NE and epinephrine (EP) increased approximately 5-fold over control levels. Levels of alpha-amylase and NE returned to control levels within 30-45 min after exercise, but EP remained elevated by approximately 2-fold during the remaining hour of observation. During the written examination, alpha-amylase and NE, but not EP, concentrations increased in parallel. In further studies the effects of exercise and exposure to heat and cold on the relationship of salivary alpha-amylase to heart rate and body temperature were investigated. Greater intensities of exercise were associated with greater increases in alpha-amylase concentrations. During heat exposure in a sauna (66 degrees C for 40 min) amylase, heart rate and body temperature all increased progressively. However, during exposure to cold (4 degrees C for 40 min) amylase increased rapidly, though heart rate and body temperature remained unchanged. Salivary cortisol concentrations were unchanged during exposure to heat or cold. We conclude that salivary alpha-amylase concentrations are predictive of plasma catecholamine levels, particularly NE, under a variety of stressful conditions, and may be a more direct and simple end point of catecholamine activity than are changes in heart rate.

Hand steadiness: effects of sex, menstrual phase, oral contraceptives, practice, and handgun weight.

PIP: This study examines sex differences in the performance of men and women as reflected in hand steadiness. In the 1st experiment 58 men, 19 women taking oral contraceptives, and 48 normally cycling women, aged 18-32, were tested over a period of 8 weeks for their ability to hold a stylus in a series of holes decreasing from 12.5 to 2.5 mm without touching the side of the hole. The normally cycling women proved steadier than the men, but the use of oral contraceptives had a significant detrimental effect on hand steadiness in women. The normally cycling women, however, showed significant performance changes associated with cycle phases. All subjects performed better with their preferred hand. In a 2nd experiment 12 men, 5 women taking oral contraceptives, and 7 normally cycling women were tested with weighted pistols simulating a .45 pistol and a .38 revolver. The 4 weights used were 660, 860, 1060, and 1260 gm. Each weighted handgun was tested in 2 firing positions, supported and unsupported. The hole sizes were 12.5, 6.5, 4.5, 3.5, and 2.5 mm. The normally cycling women made the fewest errors, and the women on oral contraceptives made the most. However, the normally cycling women did significantly worse during the week prior to menses. Contrary to expectations, the steadiness advantage of the normally cycling women did not disappear at heavier pistol weights.^ieng

Neurobiology of LCM virus infection in rodents.

In addition to the previously reported data on the retinal and cerebellar immunopathology following infection of neonatal rats with LCM virus, we have found that there are long-term effects on behavioural and neurological development. Rats were inoculated intracerebrally with the E-350 strain at different ages during the first 3 weeks after birth. Behavioural tests were initiated when the animals were either 3 months or 1 year of age. The behavioural consequences appear to be a long-term alteration in emotional reactivity such that the infected animals are less responsive than controls as assessed by these measures. No alterations were detected in animals infected after the first postnatal week. Complementing these data are the findings of a collaterally progressive lesion of the hippocampal dentate gyrus as well as a loss in total cell number in the forebrain (as assessed by DNA, RNA, and protein determinations) amounting to about 20% of the brain mass. These behavioural, histological, and biochemical data indicate that there are forebrain structures, most probably within the limbic system, that are susceptible at critical phases of development to the pathological consequences of infection with LCM virus.