Yao Zhuxi, Zhang Liang, Jiang Caihong, Zhang Kan, Wu Jianhui
Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing , China.
PeerJ. 2016 May 26;4:e2061. doi: 10.7717/peerj.2061. eCollection 2016.
As a fundamental dimension of cognition and behavior, time perception has been found to be sensitive to stress. However, how one's time perception changes with responses to stress is still unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between stress-induced cortisol response and time perception. A group of 40 healthy young male adults performed a temporal bisection task before and after the Trier Social Stress Test for a stress condition. A control group of 27 male participants completed the same time perception task without stress induction. In the temporal bisection task, participants were first presented with short (400 ms) and long (1,600 ms) visual signals serving as anchor durations and then required to judge whether the intermediate probe durations were more similar to the short or the long anchor. The bisection point and Weber ratio were calculated and indicated the subjective duration and the temporal sensitivity, respectively. Data showed that participants in the stress group had significantly increased salivary cortisol levels, heart rates, and negative affects compared with those in the control group. The results did not show significant group differences for the subjective duration or the temporal sensitivity. However, the results showed a significant positive correlation between stress-induced cortisol responses and decreases in temporal sensitivity indexed by increases in the Weber ratio. This correlation was not observed for the control group. Changes in subjective duration indexed by temporal bisection points were not correlated with cortisol reactivity in both the groups. In conclusion, the present study found that although no significant change was observed in time perception after an acute stressor on the group-level comparison (i.e., stress vs. nonstress group), individuals with stronger cortisol responses to stress showed a larger decrease in temporal sensitivity. This finding may provide insight into the understanding of the relationship between stress and temporal sensitivity.
作为认知和行为的一个基本维度，时间感知已被发现对压力敏感。然而，一个人的时间感知如何随对压力的反应而变化仍不清楚。本研究旨在调查应激诱导的皮质醇反应与时间感知之间的关系。一组40名健康的年轻男性成年人在经历特里尔社会应激测试（一种应激条件）前后进行了时间二等分任务。一组27名男性参与者作为对照组，在没有应激诱导的情况下完成相同的时间感知任务。在时间二等分任务中，参与者首先会看到短（400毫秒）和长（1600毫秒）的视觉信号作为锚定持续时间，然后被要求判断中间的探测持续时间与短锚定还是长锚定更相似。计算二等分点和韦伯比率，分别表示主观持续时间和时间敏感性。数据显示，与对照组相比，应激组参与者的唾液皮质醇水平、心率和负面影响显著增加。结果在主观持续时间或时间敏感性方面未显示出显著的组间差异。然而，结果显示应激诱导的皮质醇反应与以韦伯比率增加为指标的时间敏感性降低之间存在显著正相关。对照组未观察到这种相关性。两组中由时间二等分点索引的主观持续时间变化与皮质醇反应性均无相关性。总之，本研究发现，虽然在组间比较（即应激组与非应激组）中，急性应激源后时间感知未观察到显著变化，但对应激有更强皮质醇反应的个体时间敏感性下降幅度更大。这一发现可能有助于深入理解压力与时间敏感性之间的关系。
