Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany.
Institute of Psychobiology, Department of Clinical Psychophysiology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany.
Physiol Behav. 2021 May 1;233:113365. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113365. Epub 2021 Feb 15.
Both cognitive stressors (such as mental arithmetic tasks) and physical stressors (such as the cold pressor test, CP) are among the most widely employed tools in acute stress research, and there is growing evidence for a high degree of stimulus-response specificity, rather than uniformity, in the human stress response. However, little is known about potential synergistic or interfering effects during concurrent administration. While cognitive tasks have been hypothesized to attenuate pain perception during CP, they are also thought to enhance physiological reactivity. Conversely, physical stress might interfere with effective stress induction by cognitive challenges. To address these questions, 56 participants underwent either the CP (3-min ice-water immersion of feet) or a warm-water control condition. In half of the sample, the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) was performed simultaneously (fully crossed interventions). Salivary cortisol, cardiovascular parameters, and subjective ratings as well as voice pitch (F0) were assessed. Results show that cortisol responses, self-reported pain and subjective arousal were mainly driven by cold exposure, which also led to increased F0. The PASAT incrementally enhanced cardiovascular reactions, but did not affect pain ratings nor cortisol responses to the CP. However, intra-individual concordance between elevated blood pressure and other reactivity measures was enhanced by PASAT administration during the CP. Importantly, performance decrements in the mental-arithmetic task were not associated with diminished stress responses. In conclusion, our results speak against any strong interference when administering cognitive and painful physical stressors simultaneously, pointing rather to specific additive effects, particularly regarding cardiovascular reactivity.
认知应激源（如心算任务）和身体应激源（如冷加压试验，CP）都是急性应激研究中最广泛使用的工具之一，并且有越来越多的证据表明人类应激反应具有高度的刺激-反应特异性，而不是一致性。然而，对于同时给药时的潜在协同或干扰效应知之甚少。虽然认知任务被假设可以减轻 CP 期间的疼痛感知，但它们也被认为会增强生理反应性。相反，身体应激可能会干扰认知挑战的有效应激诱导。为了解决这些问题，56 名参与者接受了 CP（3 分钟冰水浸泡双脚）或温水对照条件。在样本的一半中，同时进行了 paced auditory serial addition task（PASAT）（完全交叉干预）。评估了唾液皮质醇、心血管参数和主观评分以及语音音高（F0）。结果表明，皮质醇反应、自我报告的疼痛和主观唤醒主要是由冷暴露驱动的，这也导致 F0 增加。PASAT 逐渐增强了心血管反应，但对 CP 的疼痛评分和皮质醇反应没有影响。然而，在 CP 期间进行 PASAT 会增强血压和其他反应性测量之间的个体内一致性。重要的是，心算任务的表现下降与应激反应的减弱无关。总之，我们的结果表明，同时给予认知和身体疼痛应激源时，没有任何强烈的干扰，而是指向特定的附加效应，特别是在心血管反应性方面。
