Acute Hydrocortisone Treatment Increases Anxiety but Not Fear in Healthy Volunteers: A Fear-Potentiated Startle Study

• Published in: Biological psychiatry (1969) Vol. 69; no. 6; pp. 549 - 555
• Main Authors: Grillon, Christian, Heller, Randi, Hirschhorn, Elizabeth, Kling, Mitchel A., Pine, Daniel S., Schulkin, Jay, Vythilingam, Meena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 15.03.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation; Adult; Amygdala; Analysis of Variance; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - adverse effects; anxiety; Anxiety - chemically induced; Anxiety - physiopathology; Biological and medical sciences; BNST; Conditioning, Classical - drug effects; corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH); cortisol; Cross-Over Studies; Cues; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Double-Blind Method; Electromyography; Electroshock - adverse effects; fear; Fear - drug effects; Female; Humans; Hydrocortisone - adverse effects; Hydrocortisone - metabolism; Male; Medical sciences; predictability; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reflex, Startle - drug effects; Reflex, Startle - physiology; Retrospective Studies; Saliva - drug effects; Saliva - metabolism; startle reflex; Time Factors; Young Adult; corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH); anxiety; cortisol; BNST; startle reflex; Amygdala; predictability; fear; Affect affectivity; Central nervous system; Corticotropin releasing factor; Startle reflex; Hydrocortisone; Glucocorticoid; Encephalon; Anxiety; Hormone releasing factor; Amygdaloid nucleus; Corticosteroid; Healthy subject; Steroid hormone; Acute; Antiinflammatory agent; Basal ganglion; Emotion emotionality; Hypothalamic hormone; Fear; Treatment; Adrenal hormone
• ISSN: 0006-3223; 1873-2402; 1873-2402
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.12.013

The debilitating effects of chronic glucocorticoids excess are well-known, but comparatively little is understood about the role of acute cortisol. Indirect evidence in rodents suggests that acute cortisone could selectively increase some forms of long-duration aversive states, such as “anxiety,” bu...