Am J Psychiatry 1975; 132:1172-1176
Copyright © 1975 by American Psychiatric Association
Cortisol, growth hormone, free fatty acids, and experimentally evoked affective arousal
WA Brown and G Heninger
Eight male volunteers who viewed selected control, suspense, and erotic
films experienced significant changes in affect that were limited to
fatigue, anxiety, and sexual arousal, respectively. All subjects showed
free fatty acid elevations with the suspense and erotic films and those
subjects with the most anxiety and sexual arousal showed cortisol elevation
with the suspense and erotic films, respectively. Growth hormone elevations
occurred independently of cortisol elevations and were not clearly related
to film or affect. Thus, activation of the pituitary-adrenocortical and
sympathetic nervous systems appears to occur not in relation to a specific
dysphoric state but rather with nonspecific affective arousal.
