Key result
Acute stress abolishes cardiac vagal-guided reductions in risk-taking observed in unstressed men.
Why the study?
The mechanisms by which stress increases risk-taking remain unclear, including whether vagal activity and sex moderate the ability of somatic markers to guide decision-making following stressful and control conditions.
Does acute psychosocial stress (via the Trier Social Stress Test) moderate the interaction between cardiac vagal activity (HRV) and somatic markers (skin conductance responses) in guiding risk-taking decision-making on the Iowa Gambling Task in healthy young men and women?
RCT (n=111)
Open-label
Randomly assigned
No
Does acute psychosocial stress (via the Trier Social Stress Test) moderate the interaction between cardiac vagal activity (HRV) and somatic markers (skin conductance responses) in guiding risk-taking decision-making on the Iowa Gambling Task in healthy young men and women?
In healthy young adults, high cardiac vagal activity (HRV) facilitates the use of intuitive somatic markers (skin conductance responses) to avoid risky decisions under stress-free conditions in men, an advantageous effect that is disrupted following acute psychosocial stress exposure.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Acute stress disrupts vagal facilitation of somatic marker-guided risk avoidance in men; extends somatic marker hypothesis with sex- and stress-specific moderators.
While stress seems to increase risk-taking, the mechanisms involved remain unclear. The Somatic Marker Hypothesis, which postulates that somatic markers (intuitive signals) indexed by skin conductance responses (SCR) advantageously guide decisions, allows investigating the underlying mechanisms. The cerebral integration of somatic markers is thought to occur via the vagus nerve, whose activity is modulated in stressful situations. This study tested whether vagal activity moderates the ability for somatic markers to guide decision-making following stressful and control conditions. As sex differences have been observed in decision-making, they were also considered as a possible moderator. Young adults (n = 111; 57 women) were randomly assigned to the Trier Social Stress Test or a control condition before completing the Iowa Gambling Task. Cardiac vagal activity, indexed by heart rate variability (HRV), and SCR were recorded during the task. Bayesian logistic multilevel modeling revealed that SCR was predictive of decision-making only for men in the control condition with high cardiac vagal activity. More specifically, when men with high HRV experienced a decrease in SCR relative to their mean, their likelihood of choosing a risky deck decreased at the end of the task. Although these findings were not observed in women, they suggest that vagal activity may promote intuitive decision-making following non-stressful conditions, whereas stress exposure may impede these beneficial effects.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Magnon et al. (2026) conducted an RCT in Healthy young adults undergoing decision-making under stress vs. stress-free conditions (n=111). Modified Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) vs. Control condition (reading magazines) was evaluated on Probability of risk-taking during the Iowa Gambling Task predicted by the 5-way interaction of Time, RMSSD (vagal activity), skin conductance response (SCR), Group (TSST vs. Control), and Sex (OR 0.54 (beta -0.62), 95% CI -1.22 to -0.03, p=pd = 98.28%). High cardiac vagal activity enabled skin conductance responses to predict reduced risk-taking in men under control conditions (OR 0.86, pd=99.90%), an effect absent after acute stress or in women.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: