Levine S
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305.
Psychother Psychosom. 1993;60(1):33-8. doi: 10.1159/000288677.
The studies described in this paper provide evidence for the importance of social factors in determining the response of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (H-P-A) system to stress. The presence of familiar social partners can reduce or eliminate the cortisol response to either loss of a significant social relationship or to fear inducing stimulus. In contrast, disruptions of ongoing social behavior can be a potent activator of the H-P-A axis. Social isolation, the formation of new social groups of unfamiliar monkeys, and disruption of social behavior under conditions of high demand food seeking, all result in elevations of circulating cortisol. Of importance is that these elevation persist for protracted periods of time and represents an animal model of chronic stress.
本文所述的研究为社会因素在决定下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺（H - P - A）系统对压力的反应中的重要性提供了证据。熟悉的社会伙伴的存在可以减少或消除对重要社会关系丧失或恐惧诱导刺激的皮质醇反应。相比之下，正在进行的社会行为的中断可能是H - P - A轴的有力激活剂。社会隔离、不熟悉猴子的新社会群体的形成以及在高需求觅食条件下社会行为的破坏，都会导致循环皮质醇升高。重要的是，这些升高会持续很长时间，并代表一种慢性应激的动物模型。
