The main objective of this review is to present an overview of contemporary issues related to the role of behavioral factors in the genesis of cardiac arrhyth mias. Particular emphasis will be placed on the effects of stress on vulnerability to ventricular fibrillation (VF), because this arrhythmia is the primary mecha nism respOnsible for sudden cardiac death, the leading cause of fatality in the industrially developed world (53). We begin by discussing some historical aspects and then proceed to review the contemporary literature. Finally, we discuss the new avenues of research that, in' our opinion, provide novel directions for future work.
Verrier et al. (1984) studied this question.