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Finseth TT, Smith B, Van Steenis AL, Glahn DC, Johnson M, Ruttle P, Shirtcliff BA, Shirtcliff EA. When virtual reality becomes psychoneuroendocrine reality: A stress(or) review. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2024; 166:107061. [PMID: 38701607 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 04/18/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
This review article was awarded the Dirk Hellhammer award from ISPNE in 2023. It explores the dynamic relationship between stressors and stress from a historical view as well as a vision towards the future of stress research via virtual reality (VR). We introduce the concept of a "syncytium," a permeable boundary that blurs the distinction between stress and stressor, in order to understand why the field of stress biology continues to inadequately measure stress alone as a proxy for the force of external stressors. Using Virtual Reality (VR) as an illustrative example to explicate the black box of stressors, we examine the distinction between 'immersion' and 'presence' as analogous terms for stressor and stress, respectively. We argue that the conventional psychological approaches to stress measurement and appraisal theory unfortunately fall short in quantifying the force of the stressor, leading to reverse causality fallacies. Further, the concept of affordances is introduced as an ecological or holistic tool to measure and design a stressor's force, bridging the gap between the external environment and an individual's physiological response to stress. Affordances also serve to ameliorate shortcomings in stress appraisal by integrating ecological interdependencies. By combining VR and psychobiological measures, this paper aims to unravel the complexity of the stressor-stress syncytium, highlighting the necessity of assessing both the internal and external facets to gain a holistic understanding of stress physiology and shift away from reverse causality reasoning. We find that the utility of VR extends beyond presence to include affordance-based measures of immersion, which can effectively model stressor force. Future research should prioritize the development of tools that can measure both immersion and presence, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of how external stressors interact with individual psychological states.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Brandon Smith
- Center for Translational Neuroscience, University of Oregon, USA
| | | | - David C Glahn
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Megan Johnson
- Center for Translational Neuroscience, University of Oregon, USA
| | - Paula Ruttle
- Center for Translational Neuroscience, University of Oregon, USA
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Cârstea AP, Mită A, Fortofoiu MC, Doica IP, Cârstea D, Beznă CM, Negroiu CE, Diaconu ID, Georgescu AR, Kamal AM, Mahler B, Grigorie AG, Dobrinescu GA. How Dexamethasone Used in Anti-COVID-19 Therapy Influenced Antihypertensive Treatment in Patients with SARS-CoV-2. Healthcare (Basel) 2023; 11:healthcare11101399. [PMID: 37239685 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11101399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 05/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic period, in the treatment approved by the WHO, along with antivirals, antibiotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and anticoagulants, dexamethasone was always used. This study started from the professional concern related to the vasopressor effect of cortisone on blood pressure (BP). METHODS The study group was achieved by selecting, from a total of 356 patients hospitalized in the clinic, the patients with known hypertensive status at admission for SARS-CoV-2. Dexamethasone was part of the anti-COVID-19 treatment, with an administration of 4-6-8 mg/day, depending on bodyweight, for 10 days. All patients with hypertension received antihypertensive treatment in adjusted doses according to the recorded BP values. RESULTS Monitoring of BP in hospitalized patients was performed daily, in the morning and evening. If on the 2nd day of treatment, 84% of the patients partially responded to the treatment with a moderate decrease in BP, on the 3rd therapy day, the situation clearly improved: more than 75% of the patients had values of BP that can be classified as high-normal (38.23%) and normal (40.03%). CONCLUSIONS Dexamethasone for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection did not have a notable influence on increasing BP, because the doses were low-moderate and prescribed for a short time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrei Puiu Cârstea
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania
- Department of Cardiology, Clinical Municipal Hospital "Philanthropy" of Craiova, 200143 Craiova, Romania
| | - Adrian Mită
- Department of Medical Semiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania
- Department of Internal Medicine 2-Gastroenterology Compartment, "Philanthropy" Clinical Municipal Hospital of Craiova, 200143 Craiova, Romania
| | - Mircea-Cătălin Fortofoiu
- Department of Medical Semiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania
- Department of Internal Medicine 2-Gastroenterology Compartment, "Philanthropy" Clinical Municipal Hospital of Craiova, 200143 Craiova, Romania
| | - Irina Paula Doica
- Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania
| | - Doina Cârstea
- Department of Cardiology, Clinical Municipal Hospital "Philanthropy" of Craiova, 200143 Craiova, Romania
- Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania
| | - Cristina Maria Beznă
- Department of Cardiology, Clinical County Emergency Hospital of Craiova, 200642 Craiova, Romania
| | - Cristina Elena Negroiu
- Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania
- Department of Cardiology, Clinical County Emergency Hospital of Craiova, 200642 Craiova, Romania
| | - Ileana-Diana Diaconu
- Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania
- Department of Pediatric Pneumology, National Institute of Pneumology "Marius Nasta" of Bucharest, 050159 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Andreea-Roberta Georgescu
- Doctoral School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Clinical County Emergency Hospital of Craiova, 200642 Craiova, Romania
| | - Adina Maria Kamal
- Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Midwives and General Nursing, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania
- Department of Internal Medicine 1, "Philanthropy" Clinical Municipal Hospital of Craiova, 200143 Craiova, Romania
| | - Beatrice Mahler
- Department of Pneumology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Carol Davila" Bucharest, 020021 Bucharest, Romania
- National Institute of Pneumophtisiology "Marius Nasta", 050159 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Adriana-Gabriela Grigorie
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania
- Leamna Pneumophtisiology Hospital, Leamna de Sus, 207129 Dolj, Romania
| | - Gabriel Adrian Dobrinescu
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Clinical County Emergency Hospital of Craiova, 200642 Craiova, Romania
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The association between acute stress & empathy: A systematic literature review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 144:105003. [PMID: 36535374 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.105003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Revised: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Empathy is a fundamental component of our social-emotional experience. Over the last decade, there has been increased interest in understanding the effects of acute stress on empathy. We provide a first comprehensive-and systematic-overview identifying emerging patterns and gaps in this literature. Regarding affective empathy, there is abundant evidence for stress contagion-the 'spillover' of stress from a stressed target to an unstressed perceiver. We highlight contextual factors that can facilitate and/or undermine these effects. Fewer studies have investigated the effects of acute stress on affective empathy, revealing a nuanced picture, some evidence suggests acute stress can block contagion of other's emotions; but again contextual differences need to be considered. Regarding cognitive empathy, most studies find no conclusive effects for simplistic measures of emotion recognition; however, studies using more complex empathy tasks find that acute stress might affect cognitive empathy differentially for men and women. This review provides an important first step towards understanding how acute stress can impact social-togetherness, and aims to aid future research by highlighting (in)congruencies and outstanding questions.
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Nitschke JP, Pruessner JC, Bartz JA. Stress and Stress-Induced Glucocorticoids Facilitate Empathic Accuracy in Men but Have No Effects for Women. Psychol Sci 2022; 33:1783-1794. [DOI: 10.1177/09567976221101315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Empathy, the ability to understand the feelings of other people, is critical for navigating our social world and maintaining social connections. Given that acute stress, and resulting increased glucocorticoids, triggers a shift in two large-scale brain networks, prioritizing salience over executive control, we predicted that acute psychosocial stress would facilitate empathic accuracy. We also investigated the moderating role of gender, given that men typically show a more robust glucocorticoid response to acute stress than women. As predicted, results from two independent experiments ( N = 267 college-age participants; 2,256 observations) showed that acute psychosocial stress facilitated empathic accuracy for men, an effect related to their glucocorticoid response in the stress condition. Conversely, psychosocial stress had no effect on empathic accuracy for women, who also showed a smaller cortisol response to stress than men. Exploratory analyses further revealed that women taking oral contraceptives performed worse on the empathic-accuracy task than regularly cycling women. This research highlights the important, but complex, role of stress in cognitive empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas P. Nitschke
- Department of Psychology, McGill University
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna
| | - Jens C. Pruessner
- Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University
- Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz
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Bélanger K, Blanchette I. Stressful Life Events Are Related to More Negative Interpretations, but Not Under Acute Stress. Psychol Rep 2021; 125:1988-2008. [PMID: 33969753 PMCID: PMC9350455 DOI: 10.1177/00332941211014150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Studies have identified deleterious effects of stress on multiple cognitive processes
such as memory and attention. Little is known about the impact of stress on
interpretation. We investigated how an induced acute stress and more long-term stress
related to life events were associated with interpretations of ambiguous stimuli. Fifty
participants answered a questionnaire indexing the number of stressful life events. A
median split was used to compare those reporting few or more events. Half of participants
performed an arithmetic task that induced acute stress; they were compared to a control
group performing a less stressful task. We measured the interpretation of ambiguous visual
stimuli, which participants had to judge as “negative” or “positive”. We found a
significant interaction between the number of stressful life events and the induced acute
stress on the proportion of positive interpretations. In the control group, participants
reporting more stressful events produced less positive interpretations than those
reporting few events. In the induced stress condition, no significant difference was
found. Life events tend to influence interpretation in the absence of an acute stressor,
which seems to be more influent in the short term.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathy Bélanger
- Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada
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