Cardiovascular stress reactivity: A molecular approach
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress
IRAS ID
164158
Contact name
Anna Phillips
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 0 days
Research summary
Blunted or exaggerated heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) responses to acute psychological stress have been linked to many adverse health and behavioural outcomes (Chida & Steptoe, 2010; Phillips, Ginty, & Hughes, 2014) yet the psychological and physiological mechanisms responsible for such adverse cardiovascular stress responses remain unclear. To explore the psychological mechanisms of stress participants will be asked to count their heart beats during an allotted time as research exists that suggests that the extent to which one can perceive their inner state can shape emotion experience (Weins et al., 2005). We hypothesise that this may explain why individuals react so differently to stress. Physiologically, ß-adrenergic cell receptor density/sensitivity and plasma epinephrine/norepinephrine serve as markers of sympathetic nervous system function and provide insight into the nervous system control of HR and BP at rest and under stress (Marsland et al., 1995; Mills et al., 1990). Hence, the present study seeks to explain differences among individuals in cardiovascular responses to stress by examining individual differences in ß-adrenergic cell receptor density and sensitivity. Healthy adults will be exposed to two acute psychological stress tasks (i.e., mental arithmetic, cold pressor) and a heart rate detection task while BP and HR are measured at baseline and in response to the each stress task. Blood samples will be taken prior to and during the stress tasks so that cell receptor and blood measures can be taken. It is expected that individual differences in cell receptor and blood measures will, to an extent, explain the individual differences observed in heart rate and blood pressure responses to the acute stress tasks. Such basic research will further develop upon already published work linking cardiovascular stress responses to adverse health and behavioural outcomes such as cardiovascular disease (Carroll et al., 2012) and depression (de Rooij et al., 2010).
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/WM/1237
Date of REC Opinion
26 Jan 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion