Acute stress enhances pupillary responses to erotic nudes: Evidence for differential effects of sympathetic activation and cortisol

作者：Finke Johannes B^*; Behrje Andreas; Schaechinger Hartmut

来源：Biological Psychology, 2018, 137: 73-82.

DOI：10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.07.005

• Pupil dilation
• Erotic pictures
• Stress
• Social evaluation
• Cortisol
• Autonomic nervous system

Chronic stress attenuates reproductive behavior in many species, but evidence regarding the impact of acute stress on human sexual arousability is insufficient. Stressor-specific effects might result from divergent roles of both stress response systems. Social self-threat, linked to affiliation-oriented coping, might also influence sexual responsivity.
To investigate stress-induced modulation of the processing of sexual cues and its relationship with cortisol, 58 participants underwent either a predominantly sympathetic stressor (3 min sustained handgrip) or similar control procedure. In both conditions, half of the sample was monitored by an opposite-sex person (social evaluation). Pupillary responses to erotic nudes were recorded and dissociated into fast and slow PCA components.
Physically stressed participants showed enhanced (slow) dilation to explicit pictures. Cortisol levels after stress negatively predicted rapid responses to opposite-sex and (marginally) explicit stimuli.
Our results suggest that acute sympathetic stress exposure facilitates cognitive sexual processing, whereas subsequent HPA-axis activation may induce counteracting effects.

• 出版日期2018-9