Daniela Schoofs

Medizinische Hochschule Hannover

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Oliver T. Wolf

Ruhr University Bochum

Diana Preuß

Ruhr University Bochum

Uta S. Wiemers

Ruhr University Bochum

Serkan Het

Ruhr University Bochum

Matthias Brand

University of Duisburg-Essen

Nicolas Rohleder

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Stephan Pabst

Ruhr University Bochum

Andrea Amaro Quesada

Universidade de Fortaleza

Laura Bechtold

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

Eve-Mariek Hessas

Ruhr University Bochum

Cooperative Institutions

Ruhr University Bochum

TU Dortmund University

Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors

Max Planck Society

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

Bielefeld University

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

University Hospital Heidelberg

Heidelberg University

University of Duisburg-Essen

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A friendly version of the Trier Social Stress Test does not activate the HPA axis in healthy men and women

Stress (2012)

Uta S. Wiemers Daniela Schoofs Oliver T. Wolf

The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is a well-established laboratory stressor leading to a robust activation of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. Existing control conditions are often not adequate to investigate participants' behavior during the situation as participants are often left alone in the room. This present study aimed to evaluate a friendly version of the TSST as control condition, the friendly-TSST (f-TSST). We expected that the f-TSST would not activate the HPA axis or increase the negative affect (NA). Forty-eight healthy male and female students (24 males) aged between 18 and 30 years were randomly exposed to either the TSST or the f-TSST. The latter features a similar structure and similar cognitive demands as in the TSST, and a social interaction with a committee. The main difference lies in the friendly and warm behavior of the committee opposed to the neutral and reserved behavior in the TSST, typically inducing social-evaluative threat. Salivary cortisol, salivary α-amylase (sAA), and affect were measured to evaluate the stress response to the respective procedure. As expected, the f-TSST neither activated the HPA axis nor increased the NA. The TSST by contrast led to an increase in both measures. A comparable and significant increase in the sAA-concentrations occurred in both conditions. The f-TSST could be useful as a standardized control condition for future stress studies. On a conceptual level our data indicate that mere social performance in the absence of social-evaluative threat and performance pressure does not activate the HPA axis.

Stressor

Affect

Social Stress

10.3109/10253890.2012.714427

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Citations (107)

Interactive effects of sex hormones and gender stereotypes on cognitive sex differences—A psychobiosocial approach

Psychoneuroendocrinology (2008)

Markus Hausmann Daniela Schoofs Harriet E. S. Rosenthal Kirsten Jordan

Mental Rotation

Verbal fluency test

Affect

Stereotype (UML)

Biological sex

10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.09.019

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Citations (128)

Perceptual complexity, rather than valence or arousal accounts for distracter-induced overproductions of temporal durations

Acta Psychologica (2013)

Kristian Folta-Schoofs Oliver T. Wolf Stefan Treue Daniela Schoofs

For humans and other species, the ability to estimate the physical passage of time is of fundamental importance for perceptual, cognitive or motor functions. Despite this importance, any subjective estimation of temporal durations not only depends on the temporal dynamics of the to-be-timed stimulus or event, but also can be distorted by non-temporal perceptual, cognitive, and emotional effects. This study aimed to further explore critical stimulus characteristics modulating distracter-induced distortions in human time-reproduction. To this end, we investigated whether subjectively rated distracter dimensions of arousal and valence (related to levels of emotionality), or rather stimulus complexity, as a confounder, produce distortions in participants' reproduction of a previously trained target interval. Accuracy and precision of time-reproduction have been measured in distracter-trials, and compared to timing performance in baseline-trials without any distraction. Results showed temporal overproductions in a magnitude of less than distracter duration only for complex distracters. Most importantly, arousal level and valence of distracters were not accountable for temporal distortions. Within an internal clock framework, our pattern of results can best be interpreted in the context of attention-, rather than arousal-based mechanisms of timing.

Time perception

Stimulus (psychology)

10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.10.001

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Citations (27)

Paradoxical effects of stress and an executive task on decisions under risk.

Behavioral Neuroscience (2013)

Stephan Pabst Daniela Schoofs Mirko Pawlikowski Matthias Brand Oliver T. Wolf

In everyday life, decisions are often made under stress and while being occupied with multiple tasks. It has recently been shown that acute stress impairs decision making under risk. Performing a parallel executive task also caused riskier decision making. To investigate the effects of a combination of these two factors on decision making, we conducted a large (N = 126) experimental study with a 2 × 2 design (stress vs. no stress and parallel task vs. no parallel task). Stress was induced using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and controls underwent the placebo TSST. Salivary samples were collected to assess cortisol and alpha amylase concentrations as markers of the two stress response systems. Decision making was measured using the Game of Dice Task (GDT). A 2-back task served as parallel executive task. Our results revealed a significant interaction between stress and the parallel executive task. In line with our earlier findings, acute stress and a parallel executive task individually tended to impair decision making under risk, manifested by more high risky than low risky choices. Interestingly, stressed participants in the parallel-task condition (GDT plus 2-back) showed similar decision-making behavior as nonstressed single-task participants. Regression analyses revealed executive functions to moderate stress effects on decisions under risk. Reasons for these paradoxical findings are discussed with respect to stress-evoked cognitive alterations that may benefit decision making under risk, if an executive task is performed simultaneously.

Iowa gambling task

10.1037/a0032334

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Citations (67)

Associations between fear-avoidance and endurance responses to pain and salivary cortisol in the context of experimental pain induction

Psychoneuroendocrinology (2014)

Sigrid Sudhaus Sabine Melanie Held Daniela Schoofs Janina Bültmann Irina Dück

Cold pressor test

Stimulus (psychology)

Pain tolerance

Pain catastrophizing

10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.11.011

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The influence of acute stress on attention mechanisms and its electrophysiological correlates

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience (2014)

Jessica Sänger Laura Bechtold Daniela Schoofs Meinolf Blaszkewicz Edmund Wascher

For the selection of relevant information out of a continuous stream of information, which is a common definition of attention, two core mechanisms are assumed: a competition-based comparison of the neuronal activity in sensory areas and the top-down modulation of this competition by frontal executive control functions. Those control functions are thought to bias the processing of information towards the intended goals. Acute stress is thought to impair these frontal functions through the release of cortisol. In the present study, subjects had to detect a luminance change of a stimulus and ignore more salient but task irrelevant orientation changes. Before the execution of this task, subjects underwent a socially evaluated cold pressor test (SECPT) or a non-stressful control situation. The SECPT revealed reliable stress response with a significant increase of cortisol and alpha-amylase. Stressed subjects showed higher error rates than controls, particularly in conditions which require top-down control processing to bias the less salient target feature against the more salient and spatially separated distracter. By means of the EEG, subjects who got stressed showed a reduced allocation to the relevant luminance change apparent in a modulation of the N1pc. The following N2pc, which reflects a re-allocation of attentional resources, supports the error pattern. There was only an N2pc in conditions, which required to bias the less salient luminance change. Moreover, this N2pc was decreased as a consequence of the induced stress. These results allow the conclusion that acute stress impairs the intention-based attentional allocation and enhances the stimulus-driven selection, leading to a strong distractibility during attentional information selection.

N2pc

Stimulus (psychology)

10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00353

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Citations (188)

Cold pressor stress impairs performance on working memory tasks requiring executive functions in healthy young men.

Behavioral Neuroscience (2009)

Daniela Schoofs Oliver T. Wolf Tom Smeets

The current study investigated the effects of cold pressor stress (CPS) on 2 working memory (WM) tasks differing in the demand they put on maintenance and executive processing. For this purpose 72 healthy young men were exposed either to a stress group or a nonstressful control group. Subsequently, WM performance on the O-Span task (Turner & Engle, 1989) and the digit span task was assessed. Salivary cortisol was measured before and 2 times after the treatment as a marker of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Results revealed a significant performance impairment of the O-Span and the digit span task backward in stressed subjects that correlated negatively with CPS-induced cortisol increases. Digit span forward was neither affected by CPS nor related to the ensuing cortisol increases. These results indicate that acute stress impairs WM performance for tasks requiring executive functions that operate on the stored material but not for WM tasks that only require maintenance.

Memory span

Cold pressor test

10.1037/a0016980

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Citations (257)

Working memory is differentially affected by stress in men and women

Behavioural Brain Research (2012)

Daniela Schoofs Stephan Pabst Matthias Brand Oliver T. Wolf

Stimulus (psychology)

10.1016/j.bbr.2012.12.004

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Citations (113)

Neuroendocrine stress responses to an oral academic examination: No strong influence of sex, repeated participation and personality traits

Stress (2008)

Daniela Schoofs Ramona Hartmann Oliver T. Wolf

Public speaking tasks have been widely used as laboratory stressors in human research. Fewer studies have investigated similar real life situations like oral examinations and results have been inconsistent. The present study investigated salivary cortisol (as a marker of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity) and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA as a marker of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity) within the context of a university examination. Subjects were 40 undergraduate students who participated in an oral examination. Of these, 20 also participated in a second examination within a few weeks. Cortisol and sAA were measured immediately before and after the examination and on a control day. Additionally, subjects filled out personality questionnaires. A strong anticipatory increase in salivary cortisol and sAA as well as more modest further increases between the pre- and post-measurements were detected during the examination. Sex or oral contraceptive use had no influence on either measure. In addition, no significant differences between the first and second examination were observed. The findings indicate the neuroendocrine stress responses to laboratory stressors and to heralded real life stressors as well as the modulatory variables involved differ from each other.

Stressor

Oral examination

10.1080/10253890701453943

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Citations (89)

Good to be stressed? Improved response inhibition and error processing after acute stress in young and older men

Neuropsychologia (2018)

Angelika M. Dierolf Daniela Schoofs Eve-Mariek Hessas Michael Falkenstein Tobias Otto

Stimulus (psychology)

Vigilance (psychology)

Response inhibition

Salience (neuroscience)

10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.08.020

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Citations (35)