Department of General Psychiatry, Center of Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Horm Behav. 2011 Apr;59(4):428-34. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.12.010. Epub 2010 Dec 31.
Stress is one of the most important promoters of aggression. Human and animal studies have found associations between basal and acute levels of the stress hormone cortisol and (abnormal) aggression. Irrespective of the direction of these changes--i.e., increased or decreased aggressive behavior--the results of these studies suggest dramatic alterations in the processing of threat-related social information. Therefore, the effects of cortisol and provocation on social information processing were addressed by the present study. After a placebo-controlled pharmacological manipulation of acute cortisol levels, we exposed healthy individuals to high or low levels of provocation in a competitive aggression paradigm. Influences of cortisol and provocation on emotional face processing were then investigated with reaction times and event-related potentials (ERPs) in an emotional Stroop task. In line with previous results, enhanced early and later positive, posterior ERP components indicated a provocation-induced enhanced relevance for all kinds of social information. Cortisol, however, reduced an early frontocentral bias for angry faces and--despite the provocation-enhancing relevance--led to faster reactions for all facial expressions in highly provoked participants. The results thus support the moderating role of social information processing in the 'vicious circle of stress and aggression'.
压力是攻击性行为最重要的促进因素之一。人类和动物研究已经发现，应激激素皮质醇的基础水平和急性水平与（异常）攻击行为之间存在关联。无论这些变化的方向如何——即攻击性行为增加或减少——这些研究的结果表明，与威胁相关的社会信息处理发生了显著改变。因此，本研究探讨了皮质醇和挑衅对社会信息处理的影响。在通过安慰剂对照的药理学手段急性控制皮质醇水平后，我们在竞争攻击范式中向健康个体暴露于高或低水平的挑衅。然后，在情绪 Stroop 任务中使用反应时间和事件相关电位 (ERP) 来研究皮质醇和挑衅对情绪面孔处理的影响。与先前的结果一致，增强的早期和后期正性、后头皮 ERP 成分表明挑衅引起了对各种社会信息的增强相关性。然而，皮质醇减少了愤怒面孔的额中央早期偏向，并且——尽管挑衅增强了相关性——导致在高度挑衅的参与者中对所有面部表情的反应更快。因此，研究结果支持了社会信息处理在“压力和攻击的恶性循环”中的调节作用。
