Post-learning cold pressor stress, after a heartbeat perception training, enhances interoceptive accuracy in high blood pressure responders

in Hennig, J.; Stark, R. (Eds.) Abstractband Psychologie und Gehirn 2018 (2018)

Interoceptive accuracy (IAc) plays an important role for generation of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) and trainings to enhance IAc reduces the perceived symptom severity of MUS. Post-learning stress ... [more ▼]

Interoceptive accuracy (IAc) plays an important role for generation of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) and trainings to enhance IAc reduces the perceived symptom severity of MUS. Post-learning stress may facilitate recognition learning. It is yet unknown, however, if acute stress, when evoked during the memory consolidation phase, could enhance the visceral learning in a heartbeat perception training (HBPT). The present study is the first to investigate the effects of a socially evaluated cold pressor test (SECPT) induced after a HBPT aimed at increasing IAc. The sample consisted of 48 healthy students (28 women). IAc was assessed at three different time points: (1) once as a baseline measure, (2) 30 minutes after the SECPT, and (3) the day after. Assessment of IAc was performed using the heartbeat perception task developed by Schandry (1981). The HBPT followed the baseline IAc assessment and was a replication of the paradigm developed by Schaefer et al. (2014). The SECPT followed immediately after the HBPT. Results showed that post-encoding stress significantly increased IAc between T1 and T3 for participants showing a high blood pressure (BP) response in the SECPT compared to the control group, whereas low BP responders did not show such an effect. This indicates that post-encoding stress enhances visceral memory consolidation in high BP responders compared to low BP responder and non-stressed control participants. Post-learning stress facilitation of visceral learning and memory may represent a mechanism underlying symptom generation, which should be addressed in studies on somatic symptom disorders in the future. [less ▲]