Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany.
Department of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Germany.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2020 Apr;114:104589. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104589. Epub 2020 Jan 25.
Many studies have investigated the influence of stress on decision-making. However, results are equivocal and the exact role of increased noradrenaline and cortisol after stress remains unclear. Using pharmacological manipulation, we investigated the influence of noradrenergic and glucocorticoid activity on risky decision-making in a gambling task that included mixed-gamble trials (gains and losses are possible) and gain-only trials.
One hundred-and-four healthy young men participated in our randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-group study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (A) yohimbine, (B) hydrocortisone, (C) yohimbine and hydrocortisone, or (D) placebo. Frequency of risky choices, i.e., monetary risk taking, was the dependent variable. We also investigated the influence of hydrocortisone and yohimbine on loss aversion, which is the tendency to overweigh losses compared with gains.
Participants chose the risky option less often after receiving hydrocortisone compared with no hydrocortisone. This effect was strongest in the gain-only trials. Yohimbine had no effect. Loss aversion was not affected by hydrocortisone or yohimbine.
Decreased reward processing may explain the reduction of risk taking by hydrocortisone in gain-only trials. The effects of stress hormones on different decision-related constructs and processes hence require further investigation.
许多研究都调查了压力对决策的影响。然而，结果并不一致，压力后去甲肾上腺素和皮质醇的增加的确切作用仍不清楚。使用药理学干预，我们在包括混合赌博试验（可能有收益和损失）和仅收益试验的赌博任务中，研究了去甲肾上腺素和皮质醇活性对冒险决策的影响。
104 名健康年轻男性参加了我们的随机、双盲、安慰剂对照、分组研究。参与者被随机分配到以下四个组之一：（A）育亨宾，（B）氢化可的松，（C）育亨宾和氢化可的松，或（D）安慰剂。风险选择的频率，即货币风险承担，是因变量。我们还研究了氢化可的松和育亨宾对损失厌恶的影响，损失厌恶是指与收益相比，过度看重损失的倾向。
与未接受氢化可的松相比，接受氢化可的松的参与者在选择风险选项时较少选择风险选项。这种影响在仅收益试验中最强。育亨宾没有影响。损失厌恶不受氢化可的松或育亨宾的影响。
收益处理的减少可能解释了氢化可的松在仅收益试验中降低风险承担的原因。应激激素对不同的决策相关结构和过程的影响需要进一步研究。
