Objective and subjective performance as influenced by drug-induced variations in activation level.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Frankenhaeuser.
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Twelve subjects with specific phobias were exposed to slides with a phobic or a neutral content while cortisol excretion, electrodermal activity, and distress-ratings were studied. Six subjects fearful of blood and mutilation, and six of snakes or spiders, were presented with two sets of ten different slides (phobic or neutral; 8-sec exposures, separated by 50-sec intervals) with the order of presentation balanced between days. Before and after each session, subjects rated feelings of distress, and urine samples were obtained for the determination of cortisol by radioimmunoassay. Electrodermal activity was recorded before and during slide presentation. Compared to neutral exposures, phobic slides elicited larger cortisol excretion, higher distress ratings, and greater skin-conductance responses with slower recovery. No differences between animal and blood and mutilation phobics were observed. Thus, humans having specific phobias exhibit pituitary-adrenal cortical arousal during the defense reaction elicited by slides of their phobic objects.
Type A behavior was assessed in 30 men and 30 women (ages 30-50) by a Videotaped Structured Interview (VSI). Scores for total Type A behavior as well as subcomponents (competitiveness, time urgency, hostility) were examined in relation to cardiovascular and neuroendocrine reactivity during a work day (change from a work-free day) and during laboratory-induced stress (change from resting condition). In addition, Type A and Type B males and females were compared with regard to total serum cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. The results showed relationships between 1) competitiveness/hostility and physiological reactivity at work in men, 2) total Type A behavior (and hostility) and serum cholesterol in men, and 3) hostility and serum cholesterol in women. As expected, the association between Type A behavior and physiological measurements was more pronounced for "extreme" Type A and B men and women (upper and lower 10 subjects, respectively) than for the total groups of each sex.