Analysis of the effects of anatomy committee exam stress on visual and auditory reaction time and cortisol level: A neuroperformance study

Deniz Şenol 1 * , Cihat Uçar 2, Ayşegül Kısaoğlu 3, Mustafa Canbolat 3, Davut Özbağ 3, Sedat Yıldız 4, Şeyma Toy 5
More Detail
1 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Düzce University, Düzce, Turkey
2 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Adıyaman University, Adıyaman, Turkey
3 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, İnönü University, Malatya, Turkey
4 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, İnönü University, Malatya, Turkey
5 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Karabük University, Karabük, Turkey
* Corresponding Author
J CLIN MED KAZ, Volume 18, Issue 3, pp. 30-34. https://doi.org/10.23950/jcmk/10849
OPEN ACCESS 1519 Views 769 Downloads
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

Objective: The present study aims to find out the effects of exam stress, which exists in every moment of education life, on visual and auditory reaction time (VRT, ART), cortisol level and stress perception.
Material and methods: A total of 66 students (36 males, 30 females) were included in the study. VRT and ART measurements were carried out with reaction timer by asking the participants to use their dominant hands. Reaction times were recorded on two occasions, namely 30 days before the committee exam (relaxed period) and, again, on the day of exam (stressed period). Additionally, students provided salivary samples and filled in State Trait Anxiety Inventory-I (STAI-I) on both occasions.
Results: Median values of cortisol, STAI-I, VRT and ART scores of male and female students were higher during stress period than that of the relaxed period (p<0.05). Correlation analysis showed a positive weak correlation between cortisol level and STAI-I scores of students in exam period (male: r=0.317, p<0.05; female: r=0.253, p<0.05). Moreover, cortisol levels were positively correlated with VRT (male: r=0.155, p<0.05; female: r=0.227, p<0.05) and ART (male: r=0.159, p<0.05; female: r=0.163, p<0.05) scores both male and female students.
Conclusion: The results show that stress increase was found to increase cortisol level and STAI-I scores. Increased cortisol level was associated with longer reaction times as measured by VRT and ART.
Keywords: Stress, Reaction Time, Saliva, Cortisol, Neuroperformance

CITATION

Şenol D, Uçar C, Kısaoğlu A, Canbolat M, Özbağ D, Yıldız S, et al. Analysis of the effects of anatomy committee exam stress on visual and auditory reaction time and cortisol level: A neuroperformance study. J CLIN MED KAZ. 2021;18(3):30-4. https://doi.org/10.23950/jcmk/10849

REFERENCES

  • Dickerson SS, Kemeny ME. Acute stressors and cortisol responses: atheoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychol Bull. 2004; 30: 355-391. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.355.
  • Foley P, Kirschbaum C. Human hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axisresponses to acute psychosocial stress in laboratory settings. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2010;35 (1): 91-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.01.010.
  • Shackman AJ, Maxwell JS, McMenamin BW, Greischar LL, Davidson RJ. Stress potentiates early and attenuates late stages of visual processing. J Neurosci. 2011; 31: 1156-1161. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3384-10.2011.
  • Qi M, Gao H, Guan L, Liu G, Yang J. Subjective Stress, Salivary Cortisol, and Electrophysiological Responses to Psychological Stress. Front Psychol. 2016; 18 (7):229. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00229.
  • Qin S, Hermans EJ, van Marle HJ, Luo J, Fernández G. Acute psychological stress reduces working memory-related activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Biol Psychiatry. 2009; 1;66(1):25-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.03.006.
  • Sandi C, Haller J. Stress and the social brain: behavioural effects and neurobiological mechanisms. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2015;16(5):290-304. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3918.
  • Kiecolt-Glaser JK, McGuire L, Robles TF, Glaser R. Psychoneuroimmunology and psychosomatic medicine: back to the future. Psychosom Med. 2002; 64(1):15-28. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-200201000-00004.
  • Lazarus R, Folkman S. Stress, appraisal and coping. New York: Springer.1984. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-1009
  • Liebert RM, Morris LW. Cognitive and emotional components of test anxiety: a distinction and some initial data. Psychol Rep. 1967; 20(3):975-978. https://doi.org/ 10.2466/pr0.1967.20.3.975.
  • Spielberger CD, Vagg PR. Test anxiety: a transactional process model. In: Spielberger CD, Vagg PR, editors. Test anxiety: theory, assessment, and treatment. Washington: Taylor and Francis. 1995; 3-14.
  • Lindahl M, Theorell T, Lindblad F. Test performance and self-esteem in relation to experienced stress in Swedish sixth and ninth graders-saliva cortisol levels and psychological reactions to demands. Acta Paediatr. 2005;94(4):489-495. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2005.tb01922.x
  • Yenice E. Performans Ölçümünde Karşılaşılan Sorunlar ve Kurumsal Karne (Balanced Scorecard) Yaklaşımı. Bütçe Dünyası. 2007; 2(25): 95-100.
  • Barlı Ö. Davranış Bilimleri ve Örgütlerde Davranış, 4. Baskı, Aktif Yayınevi, Erzurum. 2010.
  • Soysal A. Farklı Sektörlerde Çalışan İşgörenlerde Örgütsel Stres Kaynakları: Kahramanmaraş ve Gaziantep’te Bir Araştırma. The Journal of Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. 2009; 14(2): 333-359.
  • Hick WE. On the rate of gain of information. Q J Exp Psychol. 1952; 4: 11-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470215208416600
  • Bunce D, MacDonald SW, Hultsch DF. Inconsistency in serial choice decision and motor reaction times dissociate in younger and older adults. Brain Cogn. 2004;56(3):320-327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2004.08.006
  • of elite fencers. Niğde Üniversitesi Beden Eğitimi ve Spor Bilimleri Dergisi. 2010; 4(3):146-511.
  • Ganong WF. Review of Medical Physiology. San Francisco. McGraw-Hill. 2001; 49-51.
  • Saha S, Gandhi A, Das S, Kaur P, Singh SH. Effect of noise stress on some cardiovascular parameters and audiovisual reaction time. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 1996; 40(1):35-40. PMID: 8864769.
  • Panayiotou G, Vrana SR. The role of self-focus, task difficulty, task self-relevance, and evaluation anxiety in reaction time performance. Motivation and Emotion, 2004; 28(2):171-196. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:MOEM.0000032313.69675.0d.
  • Ozgocer T, Ucar C, Yildiz S. Cortisol awakening response is blunted and pain perception is increased during menses in cyclic women. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2017; 77:158-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.12.011.
  • Öner N, Le Compte A. Durumluk-Sürekli Kaygı Envanteri El Kitabı. İstanbul: Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Yayını. 1983.
  • Tamer K. Sporda Fiziksel-Fizyolojik Performans Ölçülmesi ve Değerlendirilmesi Ankara: Türker Kitabevi. 1995.
  • Granger DA, Kivlighan KT, el-Sheikh M, Gordis EB, Stroud LR. Salivary alpha-amylase in biobehavioral research: recent developments and applications. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007; 1098:122-144. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1384.008.
  • Mathews A, MacLeod C. Induced processing biases have causal effects on anxiety. Cognition & Emotion. 2002; 16: 331-354. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930143000518
  • Apoorvagiri D, Nagananda MS. Mental Stress and its Implications on Reaction time. IJCTT. 2013; 4(5), 1426-1430.
  • Preuss D, Schoofs D, Schlotz W, Wolf OT. The stressed student: influence of written examinations and oral presentations on salivary cortisol concentrations in university students. Stress. 2010;13(3):221-229. https://doi.org/10.3109/10253890903277579
  • Welford AT. Choice reaction time: Basic concepts. In A. T. Welford (Ed.), Reaction Times. Academic Press, New York. 1980; 73-128.
  • Brebner JT, Welford AT. Introduction: an historical background sketch. In A. T. Welford (Ed.), Reaction Times, Academic Press, New York. 1980; 1-23.
  • Teichner WH, Krebs MJ. Laws of visual choice reaction time. Psychol Rev. 1974;81(1):75-98. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0035867.
  • Luce RD. Response Times: Their Role in Inferring Elementary Mental Organization. Oxford University Press, New York. 1986.
  • Kemp BJ. Reaction time of young and elderly subjects in relation to perceptual deprivation and signal-on versus signal-off condition. Dev Psychol. 1973; 8(2): 268-272.
  • Marshall WH, Talbot SA, Ades HW. Cortical response of the anaesthetized cat to gross photic and electrical afferent stimulation. J Neurophysiol. 1943;6: 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1943.6.1.1.
  • Bellis CJ. Reaction time and chronological age. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology & Medicine. 1933; 30: 801-803. https://doi.org/10.3181/00379727-30-6682.
  • Engel BT, Thorne PR, Quilter RE. On the relationships among sex, age, response mode, cardiac cycle phase, breathing cycle phase, and simple reaction time. J Gerontol. 1972; 27(4):456-460. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/27.4.456
  • Silverman IW. Sex Differences in Simple Visual Reaction Time: A Historical Meta-Analysis. Sex Roles. 2006; 54(1-2): 57-69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-8869-6
  • Spierer DK, Petersen RA, Duffy K, Corcoran BM, Rawls-Martin T. Gender influence on response time to sensory stimuli. J Strength Cond Res. 2010;24(4):957-963. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c7c536.
  • Dündar U. Antrenman Teorisi. Ankara, Bağırgan Yayınevi. 1997.
  • Gündüz N. Antrenman bilgisi. İzmir: Saray Tıp Kitabevleri. 1997.
  • Binboğa E, Pehlivan M, Çelebi G. The effects of auditory stimuli with varying frequency and intensitiy on human simple reaction time. Ege Journal of Medicine. 2007; 46(2), 67-72.
  • Gürsoy R, Akarsu S, Hazar K. Examination of correlation among reaction time, strength, and flexibility of sedentary and athletes in different branches. Journal of Human Sciences. 2017; 14(4), 3282-3291. https://doi.org/10.14687/jhs.v14i4.4786.
  • Taimela S, Kujala UM. Reaction times with reference to musculoskeletal complaints in adolescence. Percept Mot Skills. 1992; 75(3 Pt 2):1075-1082. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1992.75.3f.1075.