Catecholamine excretion as related to cognitive and emotional reaction patterns.

Excretion rates of adrenaline and noradrenaline, performance in an audiovisual conflict test, and subjective reactions to the test as well as habitual response patterns were examined in 25 subjects. Subjects with high excretion rates of both hormones performed better during the entire stress session than did subjects with low excretion rates, the trend being particularly pronounced in respect to noradrenaline excretion. Subjects with high or with low excretion rates of both hormones had different time patterns of emotional involvement; high excretion rates were associated with a decrease and low excretion rates with an increase in the intensity of the reactions as the session progressed.