Acute stress via SECPT increased cardiac interoceptive attention, but this effect was reversed in individuals with high chronic stress, while accuracy negatively associated with cortisol/DHEA ratio.
Cross-Sectional (n=68)
Does acute stress affect cardiac interoceptive accuracy and attention in chronically-stressed schoolteachers?
Acute stress enhances attentional resources for processing cardiac interoceptive sensations, but chronic stress blunts this response and decreases interoceptive accuracy, potentially contributing to somatic symptom generation.
Acute stress affects interoception, the processing and perception of signals from inside the body. In contrast, the effects of chronic stress on interoception remain largely unknown, although chronic stress is a potential risk factor for disorders involving interoceptive alterations. This study aimed at investigating the impact of both acute and chronic stress on two key facets of interoception: interoceptive accuracy (IAc) and interoceptive attention (IAt). The study involved schoolteachers, a population at risk of experiencing moderate to high levels of chronic stress. From an initial sample of 219 schoolteachers, 80 attended the laboratory session, with 68 providing complete data sets. They completed a heartbeat counting task (HCT) and a distraction task (DT) before and after undergoing a socially-evaluated cold pressor test (SECPT) as acute stressor. Heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs) served as indicators of cardiac IAt. The SECPT evoked an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and salivary cortisol. Cardiac IAc was unaffected by the SECPT. HEPs were higher while performing the HCT than the DT (indicating cardiac IAt), which was intensified after the SECPT. Notably, SECPT effects on cardiac IAt were reversed in individuals with high levels of self-reported chronic stress, whereas cardiac IAc showed a negative association with cortisol/DHEA ratio in hair. Our findings suggest that acute stress increases attentional resources for processing interoceptive sensations, whereas chronic stress attenuates this effect, while simultaneously increasing the sensory threshold for their perception, which may be a mechanism of somatic symptom generation in stress-related disorders.
Schulz et al. (Fri,) conducted a cross-sectional in Chronic stress (n=68). Socially-evaluated cold pressor test (SECPT) vs. Baseline (before SECPT) was evaluated on Cardiac interoceptive accuracy (IAc) and interoceptive attention (IAt). Acute stress via SECPT increased cardiac interoceptive attention, but this effect was reversed in individuals with high chronic stress, while accuracy negatively associated with cortisol/DHEA ratio.