Citation

Bendahan S, Goette L, Thoresen J, Loued-Khenissi L, Hollis F, Sandi C. Eur. J. Neurosci. 2016; 45(7): 877-885.

Affiliation

Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland. carmen.sandi@epfl.ch.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Federation of European Neuroscience Societies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/ejn.13395

PMID

27606489

Abstract

Decision-making processes can be modulated by stress, and the time elapsed from stress induction seems to be a crucial factor in determining the direction of the effects. Although current approaches consider the first post-stress hour a uniform period, the dynamic pattern of activation of the physiological stress systems (i.e., the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) suggests that its neurobehavioral impact might be heterogeneous. Here we evaluate economic risk preferences on the gain domain (i.e., risk aversion) at three time points following exposure to psychosocial stress (immediately after, and 20 and 45 minutes from onset). Using lottery games, we examine decisions at both the individual and social levels. We find that risk aversion shows a time-dependent change across the first post-stress hour, evolving from less risk aversion shortly after stress to more risk averse behavior at the last testing time. When risk implied an antisocial outcome to a third party, stressed individuals showed less regard for this person in their decisions. Participants' cortisol levels explained their behavior in the risk, but not the antisocial, game. Our findings reveal differential stress effects in self- and other-regarding decision-making and highlight the multidimensional nature of the immediate aftermath of stress for cognition. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Language: en