Exposure to an acute stressful event enhances trace eyeblink conditioning in male rats, even when rats begin training days after the stressor (Shors, 2001). The authors examined whether the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), an area involved in stress and anxiety, is critically involved in this effect and, if so, when. The authors found that excitotoxic lesions to the BNST prevented th...

This study assessed stressor and menstrual phase effects on psychophysiological and neuroendocrine responses to laboratory stressors in freely cycling women (N=78, ages 18-45). Participants performed counterbalanced stressors [Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) or cold pressor test (CP)] during their follicular and luteal menstrual cycle phases between 1:00 and 3:00p.m. to control for ...

There is a well-known link between stress and depression, but diathesis-stress models suggest that not all individuals are equally susceptible to stress. The current study examined if brooding rumination, a known risk factor for depression, influences cardiovascular reactivity to a laboratory-based interpersonal stressor. Sixty-five women watched a baseline video and were exposed to an interper...

Generally, ERA, like most risk assessment methodology, is founded on the need to address uncertainty in the decision process. Management decisions regarding the aquatic ecosystem have to deal with both epistemic (knowledge base) uncertainty and innate variability pertaining to both the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem. Conventional ERA methodology depends on a statistical approach...

Humans have a variety of direct and indirect impacts on wildlife and a number of methods have been proposed to identify and quantify anthropogenic stressors that negatively impact wildlife. The ideal method would ultimately help predict the presence, absence, or population viability of animals living with a particular stressor. We critically review seven methods that have been used, or are pote...

The present article proposes an interactional model of schizophrenic disorders in which three parameters of stressors (e.g. stressor category, stressor content, stressor descriptors) interact with four parameters of social networks/supports (e.g. structure, interactional properties, qualitative properties, functional indices) to produce a stress state characterized by positions along three orth...

The current study investigated how self-esteem and self-concept clarity are implicated in the stress process both in the short and long term. Initial and 2-year follow-up interviews were completed by 178 participants from stepfamily unions. In twice-daily structured diaries over 7 days, participants reported their main family stressor, cognitive appraisals (perceived stressor threat and stresso...

Long QT syndrome is characterized by prolongation of the corrected QT (QTc) interval on the surface electrocardiogram and is associated with precipitation of torsade de pointes (TdP), a polymorphic ventricular tachycardia that may cause sudden death. Acquired long QT syndrome describes pathologic excessive prolongation of the QT interval, upon exposure to an environmental stressor, with reversi...

The finding that chewing gum can moderate stress and mood changes following a multi-task cognitive stressor (Scholey et al., 2009) was re-examined. In a repeated measures cross-over design, thirty participants completed a 20-min multi-tasking stressor on consecutive days, both with and without chewing gum. Both prior to and post stressor, participants provided salivary cortisol samples and self...

There is an increasing interest in developing school programs that improve the ability of children to cope with psychosocial stress. Yoga may be an appropriate intervention as it has demonstrated improvements in the ability of children to manage psychosocial stress. Yoga is thought to improve the control of reactivity to stress via the regulation of the autonomic nervous system. The current stu...