Effects of single cortisol administrations on human affect reviewed: Coping with stress through adaptive regulation of automatic cognitive processing

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.12.001

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Volume 36, Issue 4, May 2011, Pages 439-448

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.12.001 Get rights and content

Summary

The human stress hormone cortisol may facilitate effective coping after psychological stress. In apparent agreement, administration of cortisol has been demonstrated to reduce fear in response to stressors. For anxious patients with phobias or posttraumatic stress disorder this has been ascribed to hypothetical inhibition of retrieval of traumatic memories. However, such stress-protective effects may also work via adaptive regulation of early cognitive processing of threatening information from the environment. This paper selectively reviews the available literature on effects of single cortisol administrations on affect and early cognitive processing of affectively significant information. The concluded working hypothesis is that immediate effects of high concentration of cortisol may facilitate stress-coping via inhibition of automatic processing of goal-irrelevant threatening information and through increased automatic approach–avoidance responses in early emotional processing. Limitations in the existing literature and suggestions for future directions are briefly discussed.

Section snippets

Cortisol and stress

The human glucocorticoid steroid cortisol, the end product of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is commonly known as a ‘stress hormone’. This title is certainly accurate in the sense that HPA activity and resultant cortisol release are increased in response to physiological or psychological stress (see e.g., Het and Wolf, 2007, Schwabe et al., 2008). The title ‘stress hormone’ is certainly also well deserved because of cortisol's relation to affective psychopathology. Different

The cognitive processing hypothesis

Initial responding to emotionally relevant stimuli is greatly influenced by (learned) automatic cognitive responses. For instance, when confronted with pictures of facial expressions of threat (e.g., fearful faces) or other stimuli that are associated with threat in the environment, the attentional system automatically orients toward these stimuli (Vuilleumier, 2002). Since attention critically restricts which information can be further processed or stored into memory, this will further

Anxiety, negative mood, and mood challenge procedures

Buchanan et al. (2001) studied immediate effects of single administrations of 5 and 20 mg cortisol on self-reported affect and startle reflex.¹ Neither dose had an effect on self-reported affective state. Also negative affective modulation of the startle reflex was un-affected but the un-modulated startle-reflex

Preliminary conclusions and suggestions for future research

From the above selective review of 21 studies reporting effects of single cortisol administrations on early cognitive processing of emotional information or on emotional state, behavior, or CNS activity, some effects seem robust and replicable, others seem more erratic at first glance. However, we think that closer scrutiny of the very diverse methods used, guided by a theoretical framework of hypothesized adaptive motivational effects reveals a more (though not exclusively) coherent pattern of

Role of funding source

This research was supported by grants from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) to Peter Putman (#451-07-028) and Karin Roelofs (#452-07-008). This organization had no influence on study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in the writing of the report, or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Conflict of interests

Both authors declare to have no conflict of interest related to this manuscript or the studies it describes.

Contributors

Peter Putman and Karin Roelofs both contributed significantly to the conceptualization and writing of this review paper.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by research grants from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) to Peter Putman (#451-07-028) and Karin Roelofs (#452-07-008).

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Invited ReviewEffects of single cortisol administrations on human affect reviewed: Coping with stress through adaptive regulation of automatic cognitive processing

Summary

Section snippets

Cortisol and stress

The cognitive processing hypothesis

Anxiety, negative mood, and mood challenge procedures

Preliminary conclusions and suggestions for future research

Role of funding source

Conflict of interests

Contributors

Acknowledgements

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav.

Front. Neuroendocrinol.

Neuropharmacology

Biol. Psychol.

Brain Cogn.

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Behav. Res. Ther.

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Physiol. Behav.

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.

Biol. Psychol.

Biol. Psychol.

Biol. Psychol.

Int. J. Psychophysiol.

Biol. Psychol.

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Invited Review
Effects of single cortisol administrations on human affect reviewed: Coping with stress through adaptive regulation of automatic cognitive processing